Hengehold Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 639 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $332,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. 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. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Stephens started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of TMO stock opened at $574.83 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $531.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $569.01.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 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 the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total value of $5,542,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,175,513.68. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 44,850 shares of company stock valued at $24,666,097. 0.34% of the stock is 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.