North Star Asset Management Inc. Buys 1,114 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Key Points

• North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.0%, acquiring an additional 1,114 shares, making their total holdings worth approximately $28.23 million.
• Institutional investors now own 89.23% of Thermo Fisher's stock, highlighting significant institutional interest in the company.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific reported earnings of $5.36 per share, beating expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share with a yield of 0.36%.

North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,739 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 1.3% of North Star Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. North Star Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $28,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Cypress Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at about $253,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,862 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,321,633 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $687,553,000 after acquiring an additional 114,277 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 5,386 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,802,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 4,646 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on TMO. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $450.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $610.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $570.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $593.00.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.98, for a total transaction of $191,992.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,735,712.66. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock traded down $9.72 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $467.56. 3,413,838 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,120,658. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $385.46 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $419.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $468.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend 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.