Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Increases Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. South Dakota Investment Council grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 241.5% in the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 7,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,697,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 103.9% during the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 944 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the period. Delta Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at $372,000. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,661 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integral Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $539.86 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $548.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $566.46. The company has a market capitalization of $206.50 billion, a PE ratio of 32.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. 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 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 return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. As a group, analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.41%.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value 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 approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut 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. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.86.

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.