Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Increases Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $10,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $520.25 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $545.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $554.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $196.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.