Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. by 26.2%, acquiring 661 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total to 3,182 shares valued at $1,583,000.
• Several hedge funds, including Banco Santander S.A. and Malaga Cove Capital LLC, significantly increased their stakes in Thermo Fisher during the same period, indicating strong institutional investor interest in the company.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific reported earnings of $5.36 per share for the quarter, exceeding expectations, and has an average target price of $593.00 among analysts, with a current rating of "Moderate Buy."

Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 26.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,182 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.'s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,430,120 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,905,812,000 after buying an additional 104,343 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,910,015 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,034,107,000 after buying an additional 455,004 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,083,900 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,604,338,000 after buying an additional 1,433,444 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,879,274 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,432,816,000 after purchasing an additional 193,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,420,949 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,259,450,000 after purchasing an additional 257,462 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on TMO. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. HSBC reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $510.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $665.00 to $620.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $610.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $593.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.98, for a total transaction of $191,992.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,735,712.66. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded down $4.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $462.74. The company had a trading volume of 2,756,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,361,249. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $385.46 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.93. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $420.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $466.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.68 billion, a PE ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.74.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.22 by $0.14. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $10.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.37 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's payout ratio is presently 9.95%.

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.