Prudential PLC Has $3.55 Million Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Prudential PLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,821 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $3,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on TMO. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 6.9 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $437.71 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $437.22 and a 1 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 firm has a market cap of $165.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $532.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $547.47.

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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.41%.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction 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 trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.