Flputnam Investment Management Co. Cuts Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 15,898 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $21,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,425,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE TMO opened at $528.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $199.57 billion, a PE ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. 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 simple moving average of $549.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $565.44.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.