Cetera Trust Company N.A Sells 30 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Cetera Trust Company N.A cut its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,496 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 30 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises about 1.5% of Cetera Trust Company N.A’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Cetera Trust Company N.A’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFG Advisors LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.3% in the third quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 532 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Axiom Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $720,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,425,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on TMO. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stephens assumed coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.95.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $575.38 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $530.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $568.96. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.69 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

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

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.