Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Purchased by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 80,197 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $41,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $189,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 20,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,732,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 28,462 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,807,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Bay Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $346,000. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 110,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $57,356,000 after purchasing an additional 7,986 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the 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 $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 trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TMO. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of TMO stock opened at $513.77 on Wednesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $544.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $554.22. The stock has a market cap of $193.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.41%.

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.