Portside Wealth Group LLC Decreases Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Portside Wealth Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,379 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 116 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises about 1.0% of Portside Wealth Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. TD Cowen raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $559.72 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $529.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $568.09. The stock has a market cap of $214.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,175,513.68. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.