Royal Fund Management LLC Sells 4,210 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Royal Fund Management LLC lowered its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 46.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,210 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.4% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,142 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,738,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 28,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 80.5% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,226 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 12.8% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 59,607 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,963,000 after purchasing an additional 6,783 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE TMO opened at $559.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $529.96 and a 200-day moving average of $568.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $214.09 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.69 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TMO. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.