Howard Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,661 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,531,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,425,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,882,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in 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, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was 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. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 directly 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 valued at $11,231,699 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $532.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $548.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $567.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. On average, analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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 given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on TMO shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of 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. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.86.

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.