Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,286 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,419 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises 1.6% of Osterweis Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Osterweis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $33,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were 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 owns 27,296 shares in the company, 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 through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on TMO. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $647.43.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $436.90 on Thursday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $409.85 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $502.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $536.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its 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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.