Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Raises Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,431 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $10,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $442,000. BSW Wealth Partners grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,287 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,531,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,066 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curbstone Financial Management Corp acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $685,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of TMO opened at $584.38 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $223.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $535.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $570.10. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on TMO shares. Bernstein Bank increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.89, for a total transaction of $3,263,656.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,611,804.88. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 34,850 shares of company stock valued at $19,123,197 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.