Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Raises Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 33.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $33,243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,249,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,297,426,000 after purchasing an additional 196,864 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,857,385 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,075,540,000 after buying an additional 197,442 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,149,754,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,935,377,000 after acquiring an additional 262,062 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,860,847 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,556,689,000 after acquiring an additional 340,263 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on TMO shares. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’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 $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 6.9 %

Shares of TMO opened at $437.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $165.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $532.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $547.91. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $437.22 and a fifty-two week 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. As a group, analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s 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.