Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 30,923 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,216,915 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 30,923 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $633,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Americana Partners LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1,217.6% in the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 82,809 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $43,080,000 after acquiring an additional 76,524 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. now owns 631,856 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $328,719,000 after purchasing an additional 79,555 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,126 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,268,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.0 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $532.58 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.71 billion, a PE ratio of 32.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $548.51 and its 200-day moving average is $570.21. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week 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.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.