Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 49,070 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 826,808 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 49,070 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises about 1.2% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $457,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,095,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,235,605,000 after acquiring an additional 117,353 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 10.0% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,493,852 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,842,762,000 after buying an additional 1,231,059 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,054,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,843,848,000 after acquiring an additional 156,675 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,113,137 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,715,436,000 after purchasing an additional 123,523 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth $2,909,524,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of TMO opened at $620.42 on Tuesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $415.60 and a 1 year high of $622.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $585.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $578.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $237.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $5.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.13 by $0.24. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 18.22%. The business had revenue of $10.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.01%.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $617.21, for a total transaction of $6,172,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at $76,420,473.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 6,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.09, for a total value of $3,793,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,548,375.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $617.21, for a total value of $6,172,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,420,473.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,084 shares of company stock valued at $14,094,292. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $670.00 target price for the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $615.00 to $600.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $648.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $630.41.

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.