Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Has $17.26 Million Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. lessened its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,179 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 452 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises 1.4% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $17,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 995 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,868,000 after buying an additional 10,606 shares during the period. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 10,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,528,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

TMO opened at $528.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $549.37 and a 200 day moving average of $565.44. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. 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 (NYSE:TMO) last posted its 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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on TMO. Citigroup raised their price target 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.86.

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.