Schroder Investment Management Group Raises Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,678,980 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,885 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 0.8% of Schroder Investment Management Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.44% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $873,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TMO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 2.3 %

TMO opened at $499.75 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $541.60 and its 200-day moving average is $552.30. The company has a market capitalization of $188.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.