Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,277,266 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,338 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.59% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $1,208,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 61,995.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,009,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $535,923,000 after buying an additional 1,008,045 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 17,046.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 973,591 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $492,803,000 after purchasing an additional 967,913 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2,567.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 352,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $186,954,000 after buying an additional 339,013 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 111.0% in the third quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 568,970 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,996,000 after acquiring an additional 299,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 20.3% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,706,179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $863,617,000 after acquiring an additional 287,446 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $590.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $575.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, March 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $620.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $607.35.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.94, for a total value of $1,135,880.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,430,359.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,192.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,711 shares of company stock worth $21,630,972. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of TMO stock traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $573.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 707,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,539,188. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $575.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $535.12. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $415.60 and a 12-month high of $603.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.03 billion, a PE ratio of 36.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.80.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The medical research company reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.41. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 14.20%. The company had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.