Central Bank & Trust Co. Has $1.01 Million Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Central Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,933 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 53 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at $27,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth about $50,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Scotiabank began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total value of $5,542,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of TMO stock opened at $559.72 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $529.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $568.56. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.69 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.