Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Purchased by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 605,113 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,758 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $314,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 76,051.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,416,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $876,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $254,412,000. Lindsell Train Ltd purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,858,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,935,377,000 after purchasing an additional 262,062 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TMO. Bernstein Bank boosted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Stephens started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE TMO opened at $584.38 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $536.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $570.35. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.12, for a total transaction of $5,581,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,608 shares in the company, valued at $18,757,296.96. This trade represents a 22.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,850 shares of company stock valued at $19,123,197. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.