Perpetual Ltd Lowers Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Perpetual Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 18.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 229,962 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 53,524 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises 1.4% of Perpetual Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $119,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TMO. IFG Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 532 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% during the third quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,425,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:TMO opened at $559.72 on Tuesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $529.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $568.56. The company has a market capitalization of $214.09 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total value of $5,542,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.