Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) CEO Marc N. Casper Sells 10,000 Shares

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) 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 value of $5,166,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE TMO traded up $4.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $531.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,798,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,039,296. 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 has a market cap of $200.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The business's fifty day moving average price is $549.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $562.32.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific's payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $667.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $653.23.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,149,754,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 86.9% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,083,900 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,604,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433,444 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1,905.4% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 903,232 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $469,889,000 after purchasing an additional 858,193 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $396,810,000 after purchasing an additional 761,649 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.