TCTC Holdings LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

TCTC Holdings LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 36.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 136 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $71,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $771,876,000 after acquiring an additional 225,568 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $804,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 4,562 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,822,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 1,102 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $519.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $548.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $558.14. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $195.91 billion, a PE ratio of 31.42, 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.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost 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 payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on TMO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

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.