Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 99.7%, acquiring an additional 7,235 shares to own 14,491 shares valued at $7,211,000.
• Several analysts raised their price targets for Thermo Fisher Scientific, with Barclays increasing it from $450 to $490 and UBS Group from $460 to $500, while maintaining "hold" or "neutral" ratings.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43, to be paid on October 15, representing an annualized yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 9.95%.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 99.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,491 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 7,235 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $7,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TMO. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 60,610.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,419,331 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,203,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,415,346 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 1st quarter worth approximately $532,360,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1,905.4% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 903,232 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $469,889,000 after purchasing an additional 858,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,233,256 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $641,577,000 after buying an additional 523,800 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on TMO shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $570.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $450.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $535.00 price objective (up from $525.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $665.00 to $620.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $593.00.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.82, for a total value of $4,518,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 115,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,037,916.68. The trade was a 7.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,735,712.66. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,400 shares of company stock worth $8,345,792 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE TMO traded up $4.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $489.96. The stock had a trading volume of 2,462,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,059,810. The business's 50 day moving average is $434.83 and its 200-day moving average is $459.02. The company has a market cap of $185.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.74. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $385.46 and a 52 week high of $627.88. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $10.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.37 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.95%.

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.