Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 37.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 236,140 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,911 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $122,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This represents a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of TMO opened at $518.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $195.50 billion, a PE ratio of 31.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average is $547.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $557.21. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis 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 (DPR) is currently 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.