Riverview Trust Co Has $34,000 Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Riverview Trust Co lessened its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 69.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 65 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 151 shares during the quarter. Riverview Trust Co’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $34,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $656.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $528.99 on Friday. The company 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 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $549.37 and its 200-day moving average is $565.17.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. Equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

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

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.