King Luther Capital Management Corp Reduces Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

King Luther Capital Management Corp trimmed its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 779,806 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 9,387 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 1.8% of King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned approximately 0.20% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $405,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 29,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 2,419 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. S&CO Inc. raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 38,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $20,268,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the period. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $312,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 60,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,436,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $526.32 on Tuesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average of $549.26 and a 200-day moving average of $561.44. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,095,799 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

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.