Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 30.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 829 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1,275.0% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 55 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on TMO shares. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $664.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $632.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $615.00 to $600.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $618.94.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $617.21, for a total transaction of $6,172,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at $76,420,473.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $617.21, for a total transaction of $6,172,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at $76,420,473.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 6,300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.09, for a total transaction of $3,793,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,548,375.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,084 shares of company stock worth $19,767,092 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock traded up $0.29 on Friday, hitting $603.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,076,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,714,754. The firm has a market cap of $230.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $415.60 and a twelve month high of $622.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $570.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $571.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $5.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.13 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $10.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.50 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.22% and a net margin of 14.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 10.01%.

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.