Aviance Capital Partners LLC Raises Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises about 1.0% of Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $7,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 90,841 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,259,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 119.3% in the 4th quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 10,186 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,299,000 after acquiring an additional 5,542 shares during the period. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,581 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,504,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 35,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $18,585,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,950 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $527.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $198.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.91, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $548.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $563.21.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share 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, research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on TMO shares. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,095,799. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.