Rockland Trust Co. Boosts Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Rockland Trust Co. grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,721 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $16,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TMO. State Street Corp grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,100,655,000 after acquiring an additional 124,996 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,935,377,000 after buying an additional 262,062 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,630,896,000 after buying an additional 65,586 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $557.49 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $213.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $529.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $568.13.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.95.

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.