Cumberland Partners Ltd Trims Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Cumberland Partners Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 1.3% of Cumberland Partners Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $18,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,531,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,425,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on TMO. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $531.41 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $548.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $568.36. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $203.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.44%.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.