John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Lowers Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,056 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,339 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,719,477,000 after buying an additional 127,564 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,972,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% during the third quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,730,000 after buying an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,868,000 after purchasing an additional 10,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 10,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,528,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $528.99 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $549.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $565.17. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.57 billion, a PE ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. Analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on TMO shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value 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. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.