38,635 Shares in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO Bought by Meridiem Capital Partners LP

Meridiem Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 38,635 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,739,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,789,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,700,154,000 after purchasing an additional 309,207 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,285,145 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,988,132,000 after purchasing an additional 706,572 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 21.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,925,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,874,069,000 after buying an additional 1,028,125 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth $2,264,615,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 54.7% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,571,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,732,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,967 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $615.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $583.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. KeyCorp raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $750.00 price target for the company in a research note on Sunday, December 7th. Barclays increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $633.68.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE TMO traded down $6.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $469.76. The stock had a trading volume of 105,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,430,628. The firm has a market cap of $174.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.96. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $560.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $548.36. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $385.46 and a twelve month high of $643.99.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The medical research company reported $6.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.45 by $0.12. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 15.05%.The firm had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $512.40, for a total transaction of $2,562,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 123,925 shares in the company, valued at $63,499,170. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $541.20, for a total transaction of $216,480.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,230,982.40. This represents a 1.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.