ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 425 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,825 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 425 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 1.9% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $36,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 104,536.8% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,355,245 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,601,150,000 after buying an additional 8,347,260 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 61,754.7% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,842,175 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 5,832,730 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,105,677,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,730,063 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,459,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,764,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 61,995.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,009,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $535,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,045 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $515.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $620.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $604.69.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE TMO traded up $3.27 on Friday, hitting $544.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,738,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,549,865. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $571.27 and a 200-day moving average of $527.45. The company has a market capitalization of $207.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.75. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $415.60 and a 52-week high of $603.82.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.64 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.73 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total value of $89,703.08. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $555.63, for a total transaction of $5,556,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,155 shares in the company, valued at $27,311,992.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,277 shares of company stock worth $28,513,384. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.