Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Sells 26,300 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. reduced its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 27.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,220 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 26,300 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for approximately 1.7% of Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $37,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted 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, Barclays reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $475.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $642.67.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $422.43 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $495.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $531.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $409.85 and a one year high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.46 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. 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 business’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 $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value 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. The trade was 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 valued at $13,106,062. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.