S&CO Inc. Purchases 635 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

S&CO Inc. grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 38,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for 1.4% of S&CO Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $20,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TMO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $771,876,000 after purchasing an additional 225,568 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at $1,091,000. XML Financial LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 26.8% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 577 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 267.3% in the third quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 371 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,095,799 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $526.32 on Tuesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $549.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $561.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $198.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.41%.

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.