Metis Global Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Metis Global Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,990 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 316 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $10,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,810,000 after purchasing an additional 761,649 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $254,412,000. Lindsell Train Ltd bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,858,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,935,377,000 after acquiring an additional 262,062 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related 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 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 $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America decreased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of TMO opened at $528.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $199.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $549.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $565.44. 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.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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 paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is 10.41%.

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.