Level Four Advisory Services LLC Raises Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,118 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,100,655,000 after buying an additional 124,996 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,719,477,000 after buying an additional 127,564 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth about $3,149,754,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,935,377,000 after acquiring an additional 262,062 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,759,736.32. This represents a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 2.3 %

TMO stock opened at $499.75 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $188.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.23, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $541.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $551.84.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 10.41%.

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.