Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 167,971 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 10.7% during Q1, acquiring a total of 1,743,025 shares, making it the 20th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Several hedge funds have initiated positions in Thermo Fisher, indicating a growing institutional interest, with 89.23% of the stock currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Thermo Fisher reported $5.36 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a net revenue of $10.86 billion, up 2.9% year-over-year.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,743,025 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 167,971 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for approximately 0.8% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.46% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $867,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TMO. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.98, for a total transaction of $191,992.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,735,712.66. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,037,916.68. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,400 shares of company stock worth $8,345,792. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $651.00 to $637.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $553.00 to $567.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $590.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $593.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE TMO traded up $6.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $461.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,689,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,227,669. The company has a market capitalization of $174.21 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $426.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $464.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $385.46 and a one year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.22 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $10.86 billion for 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 business's revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

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

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.