538 Shares in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Purchased by Hughes Financial Services LLC

Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 538 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on TMO shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank upped 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 note 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.8 %

TMO stock opened at $508.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $191.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $548.72 and its 200 day moving average is $560.10. 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 (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.34%. 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. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

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.