Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 285 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,370 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 285 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up approximately 1.4% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $16,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TMO. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,886 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,224,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,149,754,000. Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd. lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd. now owns 11,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,723,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 23,893 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,430,000 after buying an additional 7,002 shares during the period. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 161,011 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $83,763,000 after acquiring an additional 5,716 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $511.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $542.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $553.64. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $193.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side 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 announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on TMO shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report 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 for the company 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

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.