Artemis Investment Management LLP Lowers Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Artemis Investment Management LLP lessened its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,060 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,817 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $7,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $559.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $529.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $568.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.69 EPS. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

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.