Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Buys 3,015 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 442,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,015 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned approximately 0.12% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $248,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,066,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 90,841 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,259,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 119.3% in the 4th quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 10,186 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,299,000 after purchasing an additional 5,542 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,581 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,504,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Destination Wealth Management lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 35,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $18,585,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 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 value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,095,799. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO opened at $531.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $200.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $549.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $562.68. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business 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 is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded 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. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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, Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

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.