Ownership Capital B.V. Reduces Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Ownership Capital B.V. reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 264,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,805 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for approximately 5.1% of Ownership Capital B.V.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Ownership Capital B.V.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $137,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on TMO. Citigroup lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.6 %

TMO opened at $531.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $548.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $568.36.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. 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 0.32%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.44%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 of the company’s stock, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.