Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Increases Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 442,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,015 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $248,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TMO. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,066,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 90,841 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,259,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 119.3% in the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 10,186 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,299,000 after purchasing an additional 5,542 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,581 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,504,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Destination Wealth Management raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 35,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $18,585,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 0.8 %

TMO opened at $531.74 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $200.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $549.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $562.68.

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 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on TMO shares. Citigroup cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’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 $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,095,799. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.