Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) is Unisphere Establishment’s 3rd Largest Position

Unisphere Establishment lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,700,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for about 7.7% of Unisphere Establishment’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Unisphere Establishment’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $884,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on TMO shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $651.00 to $637.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $715.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $610.00 price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $580.00 to $570.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $665.00 to $620.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $610.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This represents a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE TMO opened at $427.56 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $482.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $524.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $409.85 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company has a market capitalization of $161.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.10 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.23 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.09%.

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.