Michael A. Boxer Sells 3,775 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Stock

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 2.4 %

TMO opened at $514.40 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $549.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $560.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis 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 is currently 10.41%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TMO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted 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. Citigroup cut their price target 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, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Campbell Deegan Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $457,000. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,771,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $91,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $195,049,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% 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.