Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 39.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 110,555 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,282 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 2.7% of Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $57,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 80.5% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,696 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,443,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,427 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 1,748 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,873 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $975,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HCR Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 7,499 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,902,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on TMO. Scotiabank started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bernstein Bank increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $551.64 on Thursday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $211.00 billion, a PE ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $529.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $568.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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 repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

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.