Costello Asset Management INC Invests $639,000 in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Key Points

• Costello Asset Management INC purchased 1,284 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., valued at approximately $639,000, marking the firm's first-quarter acquisition.
• Insider trading activity included Gianluca Pettiti, EVP, selling 400 shares for about $191,992, reducing ownership by 1.76% to 22,367 shares.
• The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, and had $10.86 billion in revenue, reflecting a 2.9% year-over-year increase.

Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,284 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $639,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.98, for a total value of $191,992.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,735,712.66. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.45, for a total value of $3,635,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 115,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,340,824.30. The trade was a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,400 shares of company stock worth $8,345,792. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TMO. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $553.00 to $567.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $535.00 target price (up previously from $525.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $450.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $593.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.4%

TMO stock traded up $6.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $455.09. 1,490,140 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,299,804. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $425.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $464.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.74. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $385.46 and a 1 year high of $627.88.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.