KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires New Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 135,283 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,423,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $518.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $195.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $546.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $556.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is 10.41%.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the business’s 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 $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.