Schroder Investment Management Group Buys 69,885 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,678,980 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 69,885 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 0.8% of Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $873,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KRS Capital Management LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America reduced their price target on 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 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 $5,753,421.75. Following the sale, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $499.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $188.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.23, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50 day moving average is $541.60 and its 200 day moving average is $552.30. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. 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 posted its earnings results 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.