SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Has $1.99 Million Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 55.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,824 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,368 shares during the quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.1 %

TMO stock opened at $528.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.57 billion, a PE ratio of 32.00, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $549.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $565.17.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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, research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.33%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TMO. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $656.86.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.