Wealth Alliance Sells 487 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Wealth Alliance lowered its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 487 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth $42,409,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 22,127 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,686,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.7% during the third quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 76,051.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,416,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $876,152,000 after buying an additional 1,414,556 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on TMO shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $538.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $548.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $568.15. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

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

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.