LA Financiere DE L Echiquier Purchases 15,147 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

LA Financiere DE L Echiquier lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,153 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,147 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 2.7% of LA Financiere DE L Echiquier's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. LA Financiere DE L Echiquier's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $57,407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 104,536.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,355,245 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,601,150,000 after acquiring an additional 8,347,260 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 61,754.7% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,842,175 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $10,136,000 after buying an additional 5,832,730 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $3,105,677,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,730,063 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,459,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,764,312 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 61,995.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,009,671 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $535,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,045 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 14,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.00, for a total value of $8,186,092.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,901 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,250,362. 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 50,277 shares of company stock worth $28,513,384 over the last quarter. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TMO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $475.00 to $555.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $575.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $575.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, December 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $610.00 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $599.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO stock traded down $0.66 during trading on Monday, reaching $578.80. 998,930 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,574,890. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $415.60 and a twelve month high of $603.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $569.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $524.07. The company has a market capitalization of $220.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.80.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.73 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 18.78%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.10%.

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.