Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Increases Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,908 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,283 shares during the period. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $12,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TMO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $528.99 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. 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 firm has a market cap of $199.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $549.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $565.44.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend yield of 0.33%. 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 is 10.41%.

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.