Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC Reduces Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC reduced its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 26 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 2,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,499,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. South Dakota Investment Council lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 241.5% during the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 7,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,697,000 after acquiring an additional 5,025 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 103.9% in the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 944 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth approximately $372,000. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,661 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO stock opened at $532.55 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $548.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $567.32. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on TMO shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target 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. Four equities 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.86.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction 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 approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders 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.

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.