Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Acquired by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 375 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. South Dakota Investment Council raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 241.5% in the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 7,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,697,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 103.9% during the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 944 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $372,000. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,661 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integral Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,344,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on TMO. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:TMO opened at $539.86 on Wednesday. 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’s fifty day moving average is $548.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $566.46. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

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%. Research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 over the last ninety days. 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.