RNC Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

RNC Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,336 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 118 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Halpern Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 307.7% during the 3rd quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 53 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on TMO shares. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $670.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. HSBC started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price on the stock. TheStreet raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Citigroup initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $620.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $599.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.9 %

TMO stock opened at $579.37 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $415.60 and a 12-month high of $603.82. The stock has a market cap of $220.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average is $564.32 and its 200 day moving average is $519.80.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.64 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company had revenue of $10.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 10.10%.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,547 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.62, for a total transaction of $3,054,289.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,011,436.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,277 shares of company stock worth $28,513,384 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.32% 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.