Confluence Investment Management LLC Sells 1,046 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Confluence Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 83,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,046 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $43,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,972,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% in the third quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 140,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,093,000 after acquiring an additional 8,180 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 5,378 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TMO shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO traded up $1.93 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $522.16. The company had a trading volume of 355,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,544,040. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $531.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $569.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $199.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.74, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.69 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.