RiverFront Investment Group LLC Acquires 105 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

RiverFront Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 27.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 484 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $499.75 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week 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 50 day moving average price of $541.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $552.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

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

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 paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 target price (up 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the 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 owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.