Impax Asset Management Group plc Reduces Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Impax Asset Management Group plc decreased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 624,093 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 78,244 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for about 1.5% of Impax Asset Management Group plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $323,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $42,409,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 693 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,623 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,097,000 after buying an additional 1,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,286,000 after buying an additional 2,017 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on TMO shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

TMO opened at $532.55 on Monday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $203.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $548.47 and its 200-day moving average is $567.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was 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 owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.