Hantz Financial Services Inc. Sells 6,211 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. reduced its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 70,542 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,211 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $36,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 target price on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $584.38 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $536.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $570.35. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.52 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.89, for a total value of $3,263,656.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,611,804.88. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,850 shares of company stock worth $19,123,197. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.