SVB Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 6,815 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,815 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,545,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:TMO opened at $528.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $549.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $565.17. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s 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 owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.