Heritage Investors Management Corp Increases Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Heritage Investors Management Corp raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,904 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,651 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $25,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. State Street Corp grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,100,655,000 after purchasing an additional 124,996 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,872,761,000 after buying an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,719,477,000 after acquiring an additional 127,564 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,935,377,000 after acquiring an additional 262,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,630,896,000 after purchasing an additional 65,586 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $533.00 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $549.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $566.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Equities research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.86.

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.