Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Buys 66,890 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 825,966 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 66,890 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for about 0.7% of Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $478,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,285,145 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,988,132,000 after buying an additional 706,572 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,925,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,874,069,000 after buying an additional 1,028,125 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 54.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,571,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,732,422,000 after buying an additional 1,262,967 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,087,666 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,789,148,000 after buying an additional 150,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,721,101 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,319,789,000 after buying an additional 31,298 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on TMO shares. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $696.00 to $683.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $615.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 30th. DZ Bank started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $632.50.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.8%

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $496.34 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $385.46 and a 12 month high of $643.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $505.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $548.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $184.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.97.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The medical research company reported $6.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.45 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.95 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 15.05%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $512.40, for a total value of $2,562,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 123,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,499,170. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $541.20, for a total transaction of $216,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,752 shares in the company, valued at $11,230,982.40. This represents a 1.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.