Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 3,700 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,428 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $31,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 127,564 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $5,972,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $12,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $28,868,000 after purchasing an additional 10,606 shares during the period. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 10,626 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $5,528,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TMO shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note 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, Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $667.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $514.40. 511,842 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,004,769. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $549.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $560.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. 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 presently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.