Ieq Capital LLC Has $19.34 Million Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Ieq Capital LLC lowered its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,562 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $19,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,409,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,759,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 142.9% in the third quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 1,394 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.4% in the third quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 22,127 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,686,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE TMO opened at $531.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $548.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $568.36. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.44%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $658.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.