Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.43

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.43 per share by the medical research company on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has raised its dividend payment by an average of 14.5% annually over the last three years. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a dividend payout ratio of 6.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Thermo Fisher Scientific to earn $25.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.1%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.6 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded up $8.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $531.41. 1,912,243 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,104,416. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $548.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $568.62. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $203.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bernstein Bank lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $5,302,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.