Vestcor Inc Has $6.12 Million Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,754 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $6,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

TMO opened at $512.94 on Thursday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $549.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $560.46. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The company has a market cap of $193.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.03, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its 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, analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.