South Plains Financial Inc. Takes Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

South Plains Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 493 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $610.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $470.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $605.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $607.43.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE TMO opened at $419.88 on Friday. 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 $409.85 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $478.47 and its 200 day moving average is $522.86. The stock has a market cap of $158.50 billion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.23 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.11 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 yield of 0.41%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.93, for a total transaction of $128,979.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,960,188.31. This trade represents a 1.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,200 shares of company stock valued at $13,235,041 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

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.