KCM Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 33.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,592 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,265 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $3,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,876,000 after buying an additional 225,568 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,236 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 646,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $400,024,000 after acquiring an additional 259,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 12.9% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 45,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,289,000 after purchasing an additional 5,236 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on TMO shares. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 6.9 %

TMO stock opened at $437.71 on Friday. 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 50 day moving average of $532.01 and a 200 day moving average of $547.47. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $437.22 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $165.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

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.