Mechanics Bank Trust Department Acquires 477 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 477 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bernstein Bank raised their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred 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 trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.4 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $559.72 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $529.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $568.33. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.