Capital City Trust Co. FL Reduces Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Capital City Trust Co. FL reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,797 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 213 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for 1.4% of Capital City Trust Co. FL’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Capital City Trust Co. FL’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of TMO stock opened at $532.55 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $203.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $548.47 and its 200-day moving average is $567.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TMO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four 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.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.00.

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.