Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Position Cut by Marco Investment Management LLC

Marco Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,907 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 490 shares during the quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $6,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the business’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 $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,095,799. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $527.43 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $198.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $548.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $563.21. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88.

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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership 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 issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 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.