Malaga Cove Capital LLC Raises Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Malaga Cove Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 56.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,722 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 621 shares during the period. Malaga Cove Capital LLC's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,249,575 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $17,297,426,000 after purchasing an additional 196,864 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,430,120 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,905,812,000 after purchasing an additional 104,343 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,857,385 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,075,540,000 after acquiring an additional 197,442 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $3,149,754,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,910,015 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,034,107,000 after acquiring an additional 455,004 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.8%

TMO traded up $7.22 on Friday, hitting $412.15. The company had a trading volume of 2,498,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,839,114. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $390.50 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $453.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $510.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.82.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.05. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.11 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientific's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.93, for a total transaction of $128,979.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,960,188.31. This trade represents a 1.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,075 shares of company stock worth $7,305,942. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $715.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $667.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $580.00 to $570.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Argus reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $470.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $607.43.

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.