Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.43 Per Share

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.43 per share by the medical research company on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has raised its dividend by an average of 14.5% annually over the last three years. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a payout ratio of 6.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Thermo Fisher Scientific to earn $25.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.1%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $531.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $203.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $548.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $568.36. 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 has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America decreased 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. Scotiabank upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.