Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,765 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 577 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $15,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of TMO. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Seven Eight Capital LP lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 29.4% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 2,586 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 249,586 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $137,396,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 34,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,148,000 after buying an additional 3,445 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.5% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 20,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,349,000 after buying an additional 1,247 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $617.21, for a total value of $6,172,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 123,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,420,473.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.85, for a total value of $1,201,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,860,920.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $617.21, for a total transaction of $6,172,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 123,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,420,473.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,084 shares of company stock worth $14,094,292. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TMO. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $670.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $664.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $615.00 to $600.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $648.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $615.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $632.89.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO opened at $610.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.72. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $415.60 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $596.69 and a 200-day moving average of $580.98. The company has a market capitalization of $233.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.14, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.78.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $5.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.13 by $0.24. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.22% and a net margin of 14.69%. The firm had revenue of $10.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.01%.

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.