Venturi Wealth Management LLC Trims Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,309 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 380 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % 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 three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on TMO. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE TMO opened at $531.41 on Thursday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $203.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $548.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $568.36. 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 earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.44%.

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.