Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires Shares of 109,596 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 109,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,107,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on TMO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded 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. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 6.9 %

Shares of TMO opened at $437.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $532.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $547.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $165.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $437.22 and a 52 week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

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.