Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Sold by Alta Capital Management LLC

Alta Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 87,153 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 898 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises about 2.7% of Alta Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $45,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 127,564 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,972,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% in the third quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on TMO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $656.86.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:TMO opened at $523.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $549.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $564.35. The stock has a market cap of $197.31 billion, a PE ratio of 31.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 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 Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.