First National Advisers LLC Sells 838 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

First National Advisers LLC lessened its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,953 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 838 shares during the quarter. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 2.9 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $523.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $197.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $548.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $559.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released 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 return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.