Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) is Davis Rea LTD.’s 3rd Largest Position

Davis Rea LTD. increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 143.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,260 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,231 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 7.7% of Davis Rea LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Davis Rea LTD.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $15,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,100,655,000 after purchasing an additional 124,996 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in 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 buying an additional 1,294,453 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,719,477,000 after acquiring an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,630,896,000 after purchasing an additional 65,586 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on TMO. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 1.9 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $523.40 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $549.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $565.93. The stock has a market cap of $197.46 billion, a PE ratio of 31.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 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. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

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.