Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,164 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 567 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 98,152 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $54,278,000 after purchasing an additional 15,009 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 619 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Sepio Capital LP increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.6% in the second quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 3,980 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 40.9% during the second quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 465 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter worth about $375,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on TMO. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Stephens started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.89, for a total transaction of $3,263,656.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,611,804.88. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 44,850 shares of company stock valued at $24,666,097. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $575.21 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $533.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $569.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.06, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.69 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally 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.