305 Shares in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Acquired by Centricity Wealth Management LLC

Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 305 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $538.03 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $548.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $568.15. The company has a market capitalization of $205.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 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 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 9.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.