Aviva PLC Sells 54,873 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Aviva PLC lowered its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 242,262 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 54,873 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $126,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE TMO opened at $437.71 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $437.22 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $532.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $547.91.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 yield of 0.39%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

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.