Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 20,386 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,289 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $10,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 75,076 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,857,000 after purchasing an additional 8,867 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $514,000. Westhampton Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC now owns 2,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Busey Bank raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Busey Bank now owns 30,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total transaction of $4,975,740.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,076,178.88. This represents a 38.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,000 shares of company stock worth $15,859,540. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 6.8 %

TMO opened at $607.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $232.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $537.83 and its 200 day moving average is $570.33. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bernstein Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.