Gouws Capital LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Gouws Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 88.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 940 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the quarter. Gouws Capital LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,409 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,293,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 491 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 153,157 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $79,677,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Petros Family Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth $220,000. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth $1,242,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 target price (up previously from $525.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $470.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $593.00.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.98, for a total value of $191,992.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,735,712.66. This trade represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.82, for a total transaction of $4,518,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,037,916.68. The trade was a 7.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 18,400 shares of company stock valued at $8,345,792. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE TMO opened at $461.34 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $426.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $462.63. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $385.46 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.74.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.22 by $0.14. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $10.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.37 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.95%.

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.