First American Bank Increases Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

First American Bank lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for about 1.0% of First American Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. First American Bank’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $14,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 1.9 %

TMO stock opened at $523.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $197.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.66, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $549.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.93. 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 twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

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

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.