Long Road Investment Counsel LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Long Road Investment Counsel LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,321 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for about 1.6% of Long Road Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Long Road Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $3,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,876,000 after buying an additional 225,568 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 4,562 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 1,102 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $519.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $548.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $558.14.

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

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 given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on TMO. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

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.