Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $551.93 Million Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc cut its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,060,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 22,086 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for approximately 1.0% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $551,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 0.7 %

TMO stock opened at $410.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $402.81 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The company has a market cap of $154.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.84, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $466.94 and a 200-day moving average of $516.54.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.05. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.09%.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.93, for a total value of $128,979.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,167 shares in the company, valued at $9,960,188.31. This trade represents a 1.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,075 shares of company stock worth $7,305,942 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TMO. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $610.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $607.43.

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.