Mission Wealth Management LP Decreases Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Mission Wealth Management LP lowered its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 313 shares during the quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,643 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 10,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,220,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 8,730 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,558,000 after buying an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 12,674 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,593,000 after acquiring an additional 2,506 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at about $387,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO opened at $523.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $549.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $564.35. The firm has a market cap of $197.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.64, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TMO shares. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $656.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value 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 approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.