Scotia Capital Inc. Boosts Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 57.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,585 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 23,168 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $33,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE TMO opened at $452.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $516.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $541.75. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $409.85 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 10.41%.

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.