Korea Investment CORP Sells 31,544 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Korea Investment CORP reduced its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 328,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 31,544 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.09% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $171,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TMO shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $513.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The company has a market cap of $193.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $543.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $553.93.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 0.34%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.41%.

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.