Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Raises Dividend to $0.43 Per Share

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.43 per share by the medical research company on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has increased its dividend by an average of 14.5% per year over the last three years. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a payout ratio of 6.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Thermo Fisher Scientific to earn $25.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.1%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:TMO opened at $531.41 on Thursday. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.77. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $548.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $568.36.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $658.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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

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.