Banco Santander S.A. Grows Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Banco Santander S.A. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 76,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 9,452 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $39,835,000 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 the business. Camden National Bank raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 10,145 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,278,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 442,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $248,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,015 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,066,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 90,841 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,259,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 119.3% in the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 10,186 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,299,000 after purchasing an additional 5,542 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,095,799 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of TMO opened at $531.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $549.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $562.68. The firm has a market cap of $200.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

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.