Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 14th

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.43 per share by the medical research company on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a 10.3% increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has increased its dividend payment by an average of 14.5% annually over the last three years. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a dividend payout ratio of 6.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Thermo Fisher Scientific to earn $25.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.7%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $514.40 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $549.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $560.79. The stock has a market cap of $194.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 28.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,409 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

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

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.