Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Buys 325 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,414 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $19,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,876,000 after purchasing an additional 225,568 shares during the period. Bancreek Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.5% during the third quarter. Bancreek Capital Management LP now owns 15,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,732,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Simmons Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 60.2% during the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 8,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,087,000 after buying an additional 3,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 90,343 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $55,883,000 after buying an additional 7,427 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned 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 $653.23.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $512.94 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $549.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $560.46. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. 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 (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. As a group, analysts predict 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.