Welch & Forbes LLC Has $46.52 Million Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Welch & Forbes LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,637 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $46,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 49.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 82 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 107.0% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 89 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 250.0% in the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 40.5% during the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 111 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $575.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $550.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $607.35.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of TMO traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $573.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,140,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,544,948. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $415.60 and a twelve month high of $603.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $575.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $534.36. The firm has a market cap of $218.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.80.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The medical research company reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $10.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.20% and a return on equity of 18.45%. On average, analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.64 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.63, for a total value of $5,556,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,311,992.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 14,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.00, for a total transaction of $8,186,092.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,250,362. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $555.63, for a total value of $5,556,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,311,992.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,277 shares of company stock valued at $35,373,364 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.