World Investment Advisors Grows Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

World Investment Advisors grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,867 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $8,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.3 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $489.25 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $536.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $549.69. The stock has a market cap of $184.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $475.27 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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, 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%. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on TMO. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.