Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Lowers Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division reduced its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 32.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,554 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,738 shares during the quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on TMO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO traded up $11.23 on Friday, reaching $533.80. The company had a trading volume of 656,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,223,844. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.18 billion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $531.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $568.93.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.69 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.