Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 557,449 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 12,898 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $290,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of TMO opened at $518.04 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $546.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $555.52.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 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 $5,753,421.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.