United Asset Strategies Inc. Acquires 1,033 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,283 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 1.4% of United Asset Strategies Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $12,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,627 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. 1776 Wealth LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC now owns 799 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 294 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 526 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tsfg LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 249 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO traded down $1.66 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $556.21. The company had a trading volume of 381,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,530,188. 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 0.67, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $212.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $571.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $526.53.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.64 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.73 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total value of $89,703.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,207 shares in the company, valued at $660,192.79. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 14,566 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.00, for a total value of $8,186,092.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,250,362. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,277 shares of company stock valued at $28,513,384. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TMO. TheStreet raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $515.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, January 8th. Barclays cut Thermo Fisher Scientific from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $555.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $601.56.

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.