Northern Trust Corp Increases Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,910,015 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 455,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,034,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,676,267 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $872,044,000 after buying an additional 256,682 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 55.1% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 591 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth about $531,000. Whalerock Point Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 13,493 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,019,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,448 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,996,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $424.02 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $487.28 and a 200 day moving average of $526.70. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $409.85 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.10 by $0.05. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.23 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87 % 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. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $605.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $475.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $610.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $580.00 to $570.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $665.00 to $620.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $616.95.

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.