Taurus Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Taurus Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,296 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 477 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 2.6% of Taurus Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Taurus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $27,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keystone Financial Group grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 878 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 12,960 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,742,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 2,858 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 119,044 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $61,931,000 after purchasing an additional 3,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $1,242,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $647.43.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 2.4 %

TMO stock opened at $437.91 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $409.85 and a one year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $510.56 and a 200-day moving average of $539.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.21 billion, a PE ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This represents a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.