Trust Co. of Vermont Raises Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,505 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,070 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 1.2% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $24,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 1,935 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 129.3% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 766 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc now owns 3,608 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,655 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Professional Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 55,968 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,116,000 after purchasing an additional 20,479 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.95.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % 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 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.4 %

TMO traded down $1.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $559.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,134,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,426,114. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $529.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $567.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $214.09 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.