Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.43

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.43 per share by the medical research company on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has raised its dividend payment by an average of 14.5% per year over the last three years. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a payout ratio of 6.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Thermo Fisher Scientific to earn $25.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.1%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE TMO traded up $8.32 on Wednesday, hitting $531.41. 1,912,243 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,104,416. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $548.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $568.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.00.

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.