Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,664 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $9,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth approximately $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO traded up $13.47 during trading on Monday, hitting $555.78. 1,114,480 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,853,988. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $529.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $568.06. The company has a market cap of $212.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.