Fisher Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,665,902 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 29,344 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.70% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $1,386,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on TMO shares. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO stock opened at $528.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $199.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $549.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.41%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 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 $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.