Waverton Investment Management Ltd Acquires 26,342 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 691,342 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 26,342 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 4.3% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $335,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,789,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,700,154,000 after purchasing an additional 309,207 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,264,615,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,897,546 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,985,759,000 after purchasing an additional 498,238 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 54.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,571,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,732,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,000,562 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,216,612,000 after purchasing an additional 74,971 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $685.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $583.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $696.00 to $683.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $633.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Michel Lagarde sold 22,046 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.56, for a total transaction of $12,424,243.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 84,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,404,976.52. This trade represents a 20.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Frederick M. Lowery sold 6,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $581.94, for a total value of $4,022,369.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at $8,360,731.98. This trade represents a 32.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,358 shares of company stock valued at $52,789,173. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $520.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $574.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $548.38. The stock has a market cap of $193.47 billion, a PE ratio of 29.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.96. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $385.46 and a one year high of $643.99.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The medical research company reported $6.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.45 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.95 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 15.05% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.10 EPS. Equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.47 dividend. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.70%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, November 6th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to repurchase up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) is a global provider of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, software, and services that support research, clinical, and industrial laboratories. The company supplies analytical instruments and laboratory equipment, life sciences reagents and kits, specialty diagnostics, and a broad range of consumables used by researchers, clinicians, and manufacturers. Its offerings also include laboratory information management and data-analysis software, as well as service solutions such as instrument maintenance, validation, and logistics that help customers run complex workflows efficiently.

Thermo Fisher operates through multiple business areas that broadly cover life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services, including contract development and manufacturing for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.