Sit Investment Associates Inc. Reduces Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,933 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $12,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $3,149,754,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,810,000 after purchasing an additional 761,649 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $377,901,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 140.7% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,093,866 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $569,062,000 after buying an additional 639,467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindsell Train Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,858,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction 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 approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,759,736.32. This represents a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO opened at $437.71 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $532.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $547.91. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $437.22 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.