WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 265 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,487 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 2.1% of WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TMO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,149,754,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 60,610.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,419,331 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,203,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,415,346 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 86.9% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,083,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,604,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,444 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1,905.4% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 903,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $469,889,000 after purchasing an additional 858,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,810,000 after purchasing an additional 761,649 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $470.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $665.00 to $620.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $603.00 to $573.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $580.00 to $570.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $651.00 to $637.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $605.30.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $401.99 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $420.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $495.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $390.50 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The company has a market capitalization of $151.75 billion, a PE ratio of 24.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.78.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.23 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This represents a 25.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.93, for a total value of $128,979.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,960,188.31. The trade was a 1.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.