Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd. raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 69.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises 3.2% of Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TMO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,759,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,876,000 after acquiring an additional 225,568 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.0% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,158 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,283,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.3% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 82,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $51,283,000 after purchasing an additional 3,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,655 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $513.40 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $543.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $553.93. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.68 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,759,736.32. This represents a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 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.