Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,206 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TMO. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 10.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,493,852 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,842,762,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,059 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the first quarter worth about $705,636,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 70.1% during the fourth quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 1,692,148 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $898,175,000 after buying an additional 697,383 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $333,786,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,989,614 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,240,824,000 after buying an additional 517,137 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on TMO shares. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $615.00 to $600.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $615.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $632.89.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, VP Lisa P. Britt sold 3,624 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.02, for a total value of $2,221,584.48. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,397,760.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.85, for a total value of $1,201,700.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,860,920.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Lisa P. Britt sold 3,624 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.02, for a total transaction of $2,221,584.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,699 shares in the company, valued at $8,397,760.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,084 shares of company stock worth $14,094,292 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $620.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $236.94 billion, a PE ratio of 39.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $598.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $581.25. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $415.60 and a 12-month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $5.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.13 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $10.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.50 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 18.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.72 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.01%.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.