Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Increases Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 122.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,714 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $3,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,760,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,582,503,000 after buying an additional 180,618 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,418,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,285,838,000 after buying an additional 50,736 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,929,225 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,988,856,000 after buying an additional 99,377 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,080,687 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,559,351,000 after buying an additional 274,464 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,184,928 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,105,945,000 after buying an additional 8,672 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,192.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total value of $89,703.08. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,207 shares in the company, valued at $660,192.79. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.94, for a total transaction of $1,135,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,430,359.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,277 shares of company stock valued at $35,373,364 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE TMO traded up $1.13 on Friday, reaching $572.38. 1,749,670 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,409,187. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $415.60 and a 12 month high of $603.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $575.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $532.82. The company has a market cap of $218.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The medical research company reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $10.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.20% and a return on equity of 18.45%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on TMO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $550.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $590.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $515.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $607.35.

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.