Natural Investments LLC Takes $2.80 Million Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Natural Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,389 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $2,803,000. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for 0.8% of Natural Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 102.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 43,659 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $22,713,000 after acquiring an additional 22,079 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 6,250 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,252,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 41,100 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $21,381,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 20,800 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $10,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 29,708 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $15,455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on TMO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $667.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $653.23.

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Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $526.32 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $198.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $549.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $561.44. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 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 $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,095,799. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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