AIA Group Ltd Acquires 4,342 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. by 23.1%, holding 23,106 shares valued at approximately $11.5 million at the end of the last quarter.
• Equities analysts have mixed reviews on the stock, with Barclays raising the target price to $490 while Stifel Nicolaus lowered it to $620, reflecting diverse opinions on its future performance.
• Thermo Fisher recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, paying investors on October 15th, which represents an annualized yield of 0.4%.

AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 23.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,106 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,342 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $11,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 10,043 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,998,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. First American Trust FSB increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 31.9% in the 1st quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 21,304 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $10,601,000 after acquiring an additional 5,149 shares during the last quarter. SouthState Corp grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1,276.5% during the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 234 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 208.2% during the 1st quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 2,105 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 1,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 1st quarter valued at about $532,360,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on TMO shares. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $535.00 target price (up previously from $525.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $450.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $570.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $593.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.98, for a total value of $191,992.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,735,712.66. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.82, for a total value of $4,518,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,037,916.68. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,400 shares of company stock valued at $8,345,792. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of TMO traded up $0.83 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $485.62. 1,955,228 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,498,278. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $385.46 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74. The business's 50-day moving average price is $431.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $462.11.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.22 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $10.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 16.82% and a net margin of 15.24%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio is 9.95%.

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.