Impax Asset Management Group plc Lowers Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Impax Asset Management Group plc reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 624,093 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 78,244 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for 1.5% of Impax Asset Management Group plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned about 0.16% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $323,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $532.55 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $548.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $567.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $203.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.86.

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.