Riverbend Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Riverbend Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 599 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $5,972,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% in the third quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 10,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 10,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,528,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO stock opened at $526.32 on Tuesday. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $549.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $561.44. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $198.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,095,799. Corporate 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.