Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Sold by DF Dent & Co. Inc.

DF Dent & Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 218,304 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,475 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for about 1.4% of DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $113,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.3 %

TMO stock opened at $489.25 on Thursday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $475.27 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $184.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $536.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $549.69.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts expect 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 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 is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TMO. Citigroup dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

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.