KBC Group NV Has $158.05 Million Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

KBC Group NV cut its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 303,801 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 72,392 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $158,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 34,850 shares of company stock valued at $19,123,197 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $575.21 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $220.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $533.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $569.58.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.