Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Lowers Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lowered its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 32,749 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,145 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $17,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’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 value of $5,753,421.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 1.3 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $516.57 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $549.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $563.73. The stock has a market cap of $194.88 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

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.