Pillar Financial Advisors LLC Makes New $29,000 Investment in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 55 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $771,876,000 after acquiring an additional 225,568 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $283,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth $129,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 57,384 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,472,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,095,799 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $531.74 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $549.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $562.32. The stock has a market cap of $200.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. On average, analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 10.41%.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.