Altshuler Shaham Ltd Reduces Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd decreased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 263 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for 0.1% of Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,760,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $16,582,503,000 after purchasing an additional 180,618 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,418,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,285,838,000 after buying an additional 50,736 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,929,225 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,988,856,000 after buying an additional 99,377 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,080,687 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,559,351,000 after acquiring an additional 274,464 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,277,266 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,208,750,000 after acquiring an additional 92,338 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.41, for a total transaction of $5,724,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,873,516.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.41, for a total transaction of $5,724,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 123,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,873,516.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.94, for a total value of $1,135,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,430,359.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,711 shares of company stock valued at $21,630,972. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO traded up $4.29 during trading on Thursday, hitting $577.93. 1,491,192 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,548,827. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $415.60 and a 12-month high of $603.82. The company has a market cap of $220.60 billion, a PE ratio of 37.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $575.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $535.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The medical research company reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.41. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 14.20%. The company had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.64 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $620.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $590.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $550.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $607.35.

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.