Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Sold by LGT Group Foundation

LGT Group Foundation decreased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 18.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,388 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 760 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased 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 note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $523.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $549.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $564.35. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The company has a market cap of $197.31 billion, a PE ratio of 31.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

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

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 issued 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 an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.