Sienna Gestion Takes Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Sienna Gestion acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 10,312 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,364,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TMO. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth approximately $280,000. Carret Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 823 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America dropped 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO opened at $508.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $191.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, 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. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $548.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $560.10. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS 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 expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % 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 worth $13,106,062 over the last three months. Corporate 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.