OFI Invest Asset Management Takes Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 68,518 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,423,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TMO. Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP now owns 28,072 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,604,000 after buying an additional 11,895 shares during the period. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Amundi lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,860,847 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,556,689,000 after buying an additional 340,263 shares during the period. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $378,000. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,394,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on TMO. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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 objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,095,799 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.41%.

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

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.