Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. Takes Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 354 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,909,524,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 61,995.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,009,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $535,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,045 shares during the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 70.1% in the fourth quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 1,692,148 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $898,175,000 after acquiring an additional 697,383 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $333,786,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,228,730 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,182,987,000 after acquiring an additional 553,695 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $535.61 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $572.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $563.22. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $415.60 and a 1-year high of $603.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The medical research company reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.41. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.20% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The firm had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on TMO shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $620.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $615.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.47.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.28, for a total transaction of $5,672,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,238,340.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.28, for a total value of $5,672,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,238,340.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.94, for a total transaction of $1,135,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,430,359.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,000 shares of company stock valued at $12,532,780 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.