Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Decreases Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,141 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 76 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 104,536.8% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,355,245 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,601,150,000 after purchasing an additional 8,347,260 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 61,754.7% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,842,175 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,136,000 after acquiring an additional 5,832,730 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,105,677,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,730,063 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,459,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,764,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 17,046.7% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 973,591 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $492,803,000 after buying an additional 967,913 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, December 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays downgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $555.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and set a $670.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $515.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $599.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of TMO stock traded up $1.10 on Thursday, reaching $580.47. 408,223 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,607,172. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $415.60 and a twelve month high of $603.82. The company has a market capitalization of $221.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $564.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $519.80.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.64 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The company had revenue of $10.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is 10.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 14,566 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.00, for a total transaction of $8,186,092.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,250,362. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 14,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.00, for a total transaction of $8,186,092.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,901 shares in the company, valued at $7,250,362. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,277 shares of company stock valued at $28,513,384 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.