Private Advisor Group LLC Has $11.27 Million Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 464 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $11,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,100,655,000 after purchasing an additional 124,996 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,872,761,000 after buying an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,719,477,000 after buying an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,935,377,000 after buying an additional 262,062 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,630,896,000 after acquiring an additional 65,586 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TMO. Bank of America cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their target price 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 lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.00.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.4 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $538.03 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $548.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $568.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The company has a market capitalization of $205.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.44%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.