Welch & Forbes LLC Decreases Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Welch & Forbes LLC lessened its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 91,031 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,246 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $47,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.3% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,219,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $1,104,000. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.4% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,851,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Square Capital LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 70.6% during the third quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 10,310 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,377,000 after purchasing an additional 4,268 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.6 %

TMO opened at $527.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $198.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $548.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $563.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on TMO shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 $5,753,421.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,095,799 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.