BankPlus Trust Department Invests $1.30 Million in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,498 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,300,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,100,655,000 after buying an additional 124,996 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,935,377,000 after purchasing an additional 262,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,630,896,000 after buying an additional 65,586 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $532.55 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $548.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $567.32. The firm has a market cap of $203.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on TMO. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America decreased 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 research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.86.

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.