Community Bank N.A. Boosts Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Community Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,443 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $518.04 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The company has a market capitalization of $195.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $546.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $555.91.

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 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, research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on TMO shares. 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. 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. Citigroup decreased 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, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. 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.