Compass Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Compass Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 108,875 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 6,738 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up approximately 3.7% of Compass Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Compass Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $56,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 29,000 shares of company stock worth $15,859,540 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on TMO. Bernstein Bank increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Raymond James restated 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $593.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.77. 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 one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $541.37 and its 200-day moving average is $571.18.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.29 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.44%.

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.