Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 237 shares during the period. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $3,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’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 value of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE TMO opened at $532.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $203.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $548.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $567.46. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.