UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Sells 5,410 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp reduced its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,776 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,410 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 1.3% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $20,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target 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. Four research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of TMO stock opened at $513.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $193.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $544.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $554.22.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS 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 issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.