Parnassus Investments LLC Buys 283,087 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,410,957 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 283,087 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up approximately 1.6% of Parnassus Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $734,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TMO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,759,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,876,000 after acquiring an additional 225,568 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth about $200,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.4% in the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 7,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,664,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Management LLC grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.3% in the third quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 1,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $989,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $508.62 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $548.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $560.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $191.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. Equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Profile

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.