Rothschild Investment LLC Sells 319 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Rothschild Investment LLC lowered its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 27,199 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 319 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for approximately 0.9% of Rothschild Investment LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $14,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on TMO shares. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE TMO opened at $532.55 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.22, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one 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. The business’s fifty day moving average is $548.47 and its 200-day moving average is $567.32.

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

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

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.