VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Makes New Investment in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 70 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,759,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $771,876,000 after purchasing an additional 225,568 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.6% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,549 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,956 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,447,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1,868.3% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,940 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,149,000 after acquiring an additional 9,435 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’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 $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 trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $518.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $195.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $547.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $557.21.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on TMO. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America dropped 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

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.