First Horizon Advisors Inc. Sells 597 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 597 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,719,477,000 after acquiring an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,972,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% in the third quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,730,000 after buying an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,868,000 after buying an additional 10,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 10,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,528,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.0 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $532.55 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $548.47 and a 200 day moving average of $567.32.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were 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 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on TMO shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on 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. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.86.

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.