TCTC Holdings LLC Grows Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

TCTC Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 36.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 136 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $71,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased 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. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $519.30 on Tuesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $548.20 and its 200 day moving average is $558.14. 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 company has a market cap of $195.91 billion, a PE ratio of 31.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

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.