Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC Sells 43 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 613 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 43 shares during the quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,531,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, KRS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 6.9 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $437.71 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $532.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $547.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $437.22 and a 1 year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on TMO shares. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

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.