WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,222 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up approximately 2.1% of WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smith Salley Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 48,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,320,000 after buying an additional 5,954 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,027 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 46,505 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $24,193,000 after purchasing an additional 3,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 1,935 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,175,513.68. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.4 %

TMO opened at $559.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $529.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $568.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stephens assumed coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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 note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.95.

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.