US Financial Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

US Financial Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,271 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 41 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for 1.2% of US Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. US Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $3,783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,471,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 167.2% during the 4th quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 205,529 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $106,922,000 after acquiring an additional 128,611 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 21,523 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,197,000 after buying an additional 1,346 shares during the period. Wesleyan Assurance Society increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2,305.1% in the 4th quarter. Wesleyan Assurance Society now owns 7,095 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,691,000 after purchasing an additional 6,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. now owns 439 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,075 shares of company stock worth $7,305,942 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $475.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $605.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $603.00 to $573.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $607.43.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

TMO opened at $413.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $390.50 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $156.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $451.89 and its 200-day moving average is $508.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.23 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.09%.

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.