Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 11.3% 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 1,899,823 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 192,179 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.50% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $988,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TMO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $33,759,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $771,876,000 after purchasing an additional 225,568 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 113,347 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $70,113,000 after purchasing an additional 4,584 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth about $638,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 11,366 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $7,031,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded down $10.47 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $421.17. 2,364,259 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,173,373. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $158.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $491.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $530.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $409.85 and a twelve month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.23 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. Equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on TMO shares. 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 for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $667.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $621.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.