Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 242,394 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,851,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 242,394 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 0.8% of Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.48% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $963,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on TMO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $499.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $188.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.23, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $541.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $552.30. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. 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 (NYSE:TMO) last issued its 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%. Research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share 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. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.