E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Has $2.55 Million Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,910 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 732 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,554,000 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 the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,872,761,000 after buying an additional 1,294,453 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,810,000 after buying an additional 761,649 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at about $377,901,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at about $254,412,000. Finally, Lindsell Train Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at about $211,858,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO opened at $527.43 on Friday. 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 current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $548.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $563.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 disclosed 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 is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TMO. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

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 value of $5,166,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 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 $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,095,799 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.