ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $49.56 Million Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,529 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for 1.8% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $49,560,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 28.9% during 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 boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at $170,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 778,822 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $315,781,000 after purchasing an additional 53,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 602,031 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $244,099,000 after buying an additional 2,262 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $615.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $653.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.25.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 2.5%

NYSE:TMO opened at $527.26 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $503.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $550.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.53. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $385.46 and a one year high of $643.99. The company has a market cap of $195.94 billion, a PE ratio of 29.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.97.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The medical research company reported $6.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.45 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.95 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 15.05% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.10 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $541.20, for a total value of $216,480.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,230,982.40. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 123,925 shares in the company, valued at $63,499,170. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

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.