National Pension Service Has $387.56 Million Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 744,979 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,450 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $387,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $656.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $539.86 on Wednesday. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $548.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $566.46. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company has a market capitalization of $206.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 10.41%.

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

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.