Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 489 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,531,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,425,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $533.00 on Thursday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The company has a market cap of $201.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $549.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $566.23.

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 (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on 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. 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 on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $656.86.

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.