Verity & Verity LLC Purchases 359 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Verity & Verity LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO – Get Rating) by 28.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,634 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 359 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,166,910 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,314,735,000 after buying an additional 406,844 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,689,762 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,565,540,000 after purchasing an additional 256,512 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,158,876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,200,398,000 after purchasing an additional 135,437 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,199,500 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,115,564,000 after purchasing an additional 153,451 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,127,006 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,155,560,000 after purchasing an additional 181,476 shares during the period. 85.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $547.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $210.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.05, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $565.91 and its 200 day moving average is $544.99. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $475.77 and a 1 year high of $618.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $5.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $11.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.41 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 15.47% and a return on equity of 21.42%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 7.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $661.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $710.00 to $693.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, SVB Leerink upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $647.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, Director Jim P. Manzi sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.56, for a total transaction of $584,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,655,579.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, Director Jim P. Manzi sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.56, for a total transaction of $584,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,655,579.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.49, for a total transaction of $4,083,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 66,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,292,980.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,100 shares of company stock worth $16,966,971 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc engages in the provision of analytical instruments, equipment, reagents and consumables, software, and services for research, analysis, discovery, and diagnostics. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences Solutions, Analytical Instruments, Specialty Diagnostics, and Laboratory Products and Services.