Grimes & Company Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Grimes & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 502.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,390 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,000 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $7,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $575.21 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $220.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.06, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $533.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $569.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.69 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on TMO. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America reduced 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 report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,850 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.89, for a total transaction of $3,263,656.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,611,804.88. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 44,850 shares of company stock worth $24,666,097 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.