Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Takes $60,000 Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 116 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,872,761,000 after buying an additional 1,294,453 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,810,000 after buying an additional 761,649 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at $377,901,000. Lindsell Train Ltd purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $211,858,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,810,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,461,913,000 after purchasing an additional 366,191 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $518.04 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $195.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $546.15 and a 200 day moving average of $555.91.

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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is 10.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on TMO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.