Markel Group Inc. Buys 5,700 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Markel Group Inc. grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,700 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $21,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,876,000 after purchasing an additional 225,568 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth $1,091,000. XML Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 26.8% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 577 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 267.3% in the third quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 371 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $526.32 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $549.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $561.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,095,799 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.