Carret Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,058 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,872,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,810,000 after buying an additional 761,649 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth $377,901,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth $254,412,000. Finally, Lindsell Train Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth $211,858,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on TMO shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup reduced their price target on 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87 % 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 valued at $13,106,062 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of TMO stock opened at $508.62 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $548.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $560.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm 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 fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. Equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.