Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Sold by Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC cut its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TMO shares. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 target price for the company. Bernstein Bank increased 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. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $559.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.59 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. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $529.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $567.97.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan 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 purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.