Busey Bank Purchases 1,044 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Busey Bank raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the quarter. Busey Bank’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $15,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $567.09 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $216.91 billion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $536.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $570.35.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.89, for a total transaction of $3,263,656.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,611,804.88. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,850 shares of company stock worth $19,123,197. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on TMO shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

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.