Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 81,331 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,826 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $42,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $771,876,000 after acquiring an additional 225,568 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.6% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,549 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,816,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,956 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,447,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1,868.3% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,940 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,149,000 after purchasing an additional 9,435 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TMO. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:TMO opened at $518.21 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $195.50 billion, a PE ratio of 31.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $547.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $557.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.