Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,580,000 shares, a decline of 24.8% from the March 15th total of 3,430,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,540,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at $660,192.79. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $555.63, for a total value of $5,556,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 49,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,311,992.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total value of $89,703.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,277 shares of company stock valued at $28,513,384 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Bornite Capital Management LP lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP now owns 30,000 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $17,719,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 2,928 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,729,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 563.5% during the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 19,844 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $11,721,000 after buying an additional 16,853 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 60.5% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 321 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 669 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded down $9.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $565.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,194,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,553,851. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $571.66 and a 200 day moving average of $525.78. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 52-week low of $415.60 and a 52-week high of $603.82.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.64 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.73 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio is 10.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TMO. HSBC began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, December 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $610.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $575.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $550.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird restated an "outperform" rating and set a $670.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, January 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $601.56.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.