Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Sold by Capital City Trust Co. FL

Capital City Trust Co. FL reduced its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,797 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 213 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 1.4% of Capital City Trust Co. FL’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Capital City Trust Co. FL’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,972,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,868,000 after acquiring an additional 10,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 10,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,528,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.0 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $532.55 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $548.47 and a 200 day moving average of $567.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 9.44%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.00.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.