Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Holdings Decreased by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. trimmed its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,418 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $531.41 on Thursday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The company has a market cap of $203.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $548.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $568.36.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 9.44%.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on TMO. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.00.

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.