Legal Advantage Investments Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Legal Advantage Investments Inc. lessened its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,029 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 2.2% of Legal Advantage Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Legal Advantage Investments Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aspiriant LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $868,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 12,246 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,371,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 75,152 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $39,096,000 after acquiring an additional 1,897 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $581,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 19,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,055,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total value of $5,542,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,175,513.68. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $559.72 on Tuesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $529.96 and a 200-day moving average of $568.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.09 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.