Lazard Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,492,115 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 298,040 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 1.1% of Lazard Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.39% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $776,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.93, for a total transaction of $128,979.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value 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. This represents a 25.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,075 shares of company stock worth $7,305,942. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on TMO shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $665.00 to $620.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $715.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $605.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $475.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $607.43.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:TMO traded down $1.78 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $404.27. The company had a trading volume of 4,128,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,834,804. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $458.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $512.38. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $390.56 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $152.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.82.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.10 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.23 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. The firm's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.11 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.09%.

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.