1,899 Shares in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Bought by Legacy Capital Group California Inc.

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 76,051.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,416,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $876,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414,556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during the third 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. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at $254,412,000. Lindsell Train Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at $211,858,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,935,377,000 after acquiring an additional 262,062 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE TMO opened at $538.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $548.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $568.15. 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 company has a market cap of $205.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.55, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a 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 payout ratio is presently 9.44%.

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.