Otter Creek Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 8,901 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Otter Creek Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 8,901 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,631,000. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for approximately 3.2% of Otter Creek Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,810,000 after purchasing an additional 761,649 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,444 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 152,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $79,387,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 51,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,705,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 96.6% in the 4th quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TMO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $656.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction 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 trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE TMO opened at $533.00 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $549.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $566.23. 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 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The company has a market cap of $201.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

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

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.