Berbice Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 100 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $573.50 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $531.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $569.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.36 billion, a PE ratio of 35.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. 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) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 44,850 shares of company stock valued at $24,666,097. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.95.

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.