Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Buys 1,553 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,549 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $15,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. 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 research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment 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, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 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 transaction of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of TMO stock opened at $524.63 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $197.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.74, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $548.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $563.46.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.