Sterling Investment Management LLC Acquires 1,634 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Sterling Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 35.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,281 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 2.4% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $3,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Halpern Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 307.7% in the third quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 53 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth $33,000. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays downgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $555.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $575.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $670.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price objective on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $599.00.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.63, for a total transaction of $5,556,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,311,992.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.63, for a total transaction of $5,556,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,311,992.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,277 shares of company stock worth $28,513,384 in the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:TMO opened at $579.37 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $415.60 and a 12 month high of $603.82. The company has a market cap of $220.92 billion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $564.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $519.80.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.64 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The business had revenue of $10.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be 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 is Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.10%.

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.