Baxter Bros Inc. Increases Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Baxter Bros Inc. increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,462 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 1.9% of Baxter Bros Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $14,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,759,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,876,000 after buying an additional 225,568 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,417 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,114,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $235,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the third 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 during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’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 value of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on TMO shares. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $520.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $196.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $545.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $554.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 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 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%. 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 announced 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 is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 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.