Michael A. Boxer Sells 3,775 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Stock

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $508.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is $548.72 and its 200 day moving average is $560.10. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TMO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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 note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,393,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 6,655 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,462,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Campbell Deegan Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $457,000. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,771,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.