Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Stock Position Lifted by Palouse Capital Management Inc.

Palouse Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 71.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,802 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TMO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.0 %

TMO opened at $532.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $548.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $570.52. 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 twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $203.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.22, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.77.

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. The trade was 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.