Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 6,119 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 116,970 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,119 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $56,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. TIAA Trust National Association increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 10.5% during the second quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 123,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $50,256,000 after purchasing an additional 11,817 shares in the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA now owns 14,490 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,875,000 after buying an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Caledonia Investments PLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Caledonia Investments PLC now owns 111,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $45,299,000 after buying an additional 11,500 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at about $506,000. Finally, Heritage Investors Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.6% during the second quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 56,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $22,944,000 after acquiring an additional 4,971 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael D. Shafer sold 10,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $6,435,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,238,600. This trade represents a 36.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Lisa P. Britt sold 1,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $588.26, for a total transaction of $622,379.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 13,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,698,558.62. This trade represents a 7.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 131,767 shares of company stock valued at $76,467,793 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $580.00 to $660.00 in a report on Thursday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $625.47.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $625.42 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $385.46 and a 52-week high of $643.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $234.98 billion, a PE ratio of 36.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $590.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $530.87.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $5.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.50 by $0.29. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 15.02%.The company had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.28 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, November 6th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Profile

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) is a global provider of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, software, and services that support research, clinical, and industrial laboratories. The company supplies analytical instruments and laboratory equipment, life sciences reagents and kits, specialty diagnostics, and a broad range of consumables used by researchers, clinicians, and manufacturers. Its offerings also include laboratory information management and data-analysis software, as well as service solutions such as instrument maintenance, validation, and logistics that help customers run complex workflows efficiently.

Thermo Fisher operates through multiple business areas that broadly cover life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services, including contract development and manufacturing for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.