Advisors Capital Management LLC Buys 3,462 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 119,044 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,462 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 1.0% of Advisors Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $61,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $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 sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $475.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $667.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $642.67.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 2.4 %

TMO traded down $10.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $426.11. 3,037,150 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,716,463. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $409.85 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $500.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $534.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share 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, equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.