VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys Shares of 25,440 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems et al opened a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific, buying 25,440 shares valued at about $14.7 million in the fourth quarter.
• Thermo Fisher shares were down 2.8% as the stock traded around $446.50, well below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.44 and revenue of $11.01 billion, both above analyst estimates, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.47 per share.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,440 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $14,741,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,091 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,791,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Petros Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Petros Family Wealth LLC now owns 456 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,095 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Financial Management Network Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. now owns 511 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 2.8%

NYSE:TMO opened at $446.50 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $488.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $543.73. The stock has a market cap of $165.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.88. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $385.46 and a 1 year high of $643.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $11.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.86 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 15.15%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. Thermo Fisher Scientific has set its FY 2026 guidance at 24.640-25.120 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 24.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Thermo Fisher Scientific's payout ratio is currently 10.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TMO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $653.00 to $639.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, DZ Bank began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, March 27th. They set a "buy" rating and a $610.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $619.65.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.66, for a total value of $185,064.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 25,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,590,095.66. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $512.40, for a total value of $2,562,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 123,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,499,170. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Profile

Thermo Fisher Scientific NYSE: TMO is a global provider of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, software, and services that support research, clinical, and industrial laboratories. The company supplies analytical instruments and laboratory equipment, life sciences reagents and kits, specialty diagnostics, and a broad range of consumables used by researchers, clinicians, and manufacturers. Its offerings also include laboratory information management and data-analysis software, as well as service solutions such as instrument maintenance, validation, and logistics that help customers run complex workflows efficiently.

Thermo Fisher operates through multiple business areas that broadly cover life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services, including contract development and manufacturing for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

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