Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Grows Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,892 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $15,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during 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 buying an additional 127,564 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,972,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,868,000 after purchasing an additional 10,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 10,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,528,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $526.32 on Tuesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $549.26 and a 200-day moving average of $561.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. 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. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % 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 valued at $11,095,799. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.