ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 1,897 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,152 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,897 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 1.6% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $39,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bernstein Bank raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:TMO opened at $559.72 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $529.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $568.56. The company has a market cap of $214.09 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 90 days, insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.