ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $39.10 Million Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 75,152 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,897 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up approximately 1.6% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $39,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,719,477,000 after acquiring an additional 127,564 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% during 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 buying an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,868,000 after acquiring an additional 10,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 82,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $43,145,000 after purchasing an additional 5,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,134,197.76. This represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $559.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $529.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $568.56. The company has a market capitalization of $214.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.69 EPS. Analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on TMO shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bernstein Bank raised their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.95.

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.