Martin Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Martin Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,916 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,122 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises 2.1% of Martin Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Martin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $7,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 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 $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $482.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $182.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $481.21 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $538.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $550.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

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.