Martin Investment Management LLC Trims Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Martin Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,916 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,122 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for 2.1% of Martin Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Martin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $7,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $3,149,754,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,810,000 after acquiring an additional 761,649 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $377,901,000. Lindsell Train Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,858,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,810,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,461,913,000 after purchasing an additional 366,191 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on TMO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of TMO opened at $482.51 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $538.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $550.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $182.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.19, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $481.21 and a 52 week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

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.