Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Holdings Boosted by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,002 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 5,066 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for approximately 0.4% of Ethic Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $21,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,233,256 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $641,577,000 after buying an additional 523,800 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 891,321 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $464,010,000 after acquiring an additional 4,991 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 4,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,321,633 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $687,553,000 after purchasing an additional 114,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,550 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $806,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $410.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.82. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $402.81 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $466.94 and a 200-day moving average of $516.54. 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 (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.05. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.11 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,075 shares of company stock valued at $7,305,942 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on TMO. Argus dropped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $470.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $580.00 to $570.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $715.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $607.43.

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.