Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 294,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 12,212 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $152,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on TMO shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 6.9 %

NYSE TMO opened at $437.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $165.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $437.22 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $532.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $547.91.

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 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase 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%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is 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.