Vectors Research Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Vectors Research Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,333 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 479 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises about 1.3% of Vectors Research Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Vectors Research Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $3,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on TMO shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $475.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $642.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This represents a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO stock opened at $426.11 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $497.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $532.62. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $409.85 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

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.