Essex Financial Services Inc. Trims Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lowered its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,875 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 194 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Violich Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,152 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 35.9% during the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $893,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the period. Panoramic Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $218,000. Arlington Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,620,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. Finally, Sycomore Asset Management grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 23,318 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,131,000 after purchasing an additional 7,929 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $553.02 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 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $547.34 and a 200-day moving average of $572.24. The company has a market capitalization of $211.53 billion, a PE ratio of 33.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating 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 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $658.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.