Bridges Investment Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,417 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,364 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $68,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,531,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,425,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on TMO shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $528.99 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization 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 moving average price of $549.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $565.17. 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 announced 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.