Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC Takes $1.12 Million Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,121,000. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises about 1.0% of Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 929,870 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $483,746,000 after acquiring an additional 130,870 shares in the last quarter. Sherman Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $138,000. Onefund LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Onefund LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA now owns 5,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,735,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA now owns 24,908 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,283 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO stock opened at $528.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $199.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $549.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $565.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its 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 return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a share 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 purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TMO. Citigroup upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased 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 note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.