PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 4,321 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 270,462 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,321 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $140,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,876,000 after purchasing an additional 225,568 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at about $283,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $129,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.9% during the third quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 57,384 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,472,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TMO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,095,799. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

TMO stock opened at $531.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $200.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $549.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $562.32. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted 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 return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. Analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.