New South Capital Management Inc. Purchases 209 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

New South Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 156,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for about 3.4% of New South Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. New South Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $81,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,531,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connable Office Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the third quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 5,917 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,660,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $524.63 on Thursday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $548.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $563.46. The company has a market cap of $197.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.74, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

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.