Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Has $3.25 Million Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,250 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.'s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $3,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TMO. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,531,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,882,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connable Office Inc. raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 5,917 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,660,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of 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 reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $667.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America decreased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This represents a 25.87 % 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 Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of TMO stock traded down $1.62 on Wednesday, reaching $512.58. 1,001,989 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,528,798. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $193.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $549.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $560.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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.