Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Lowers Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,101 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 25 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,760,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $16,582,503,000 after acquiring an additional 180,618 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,418,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,285,838,000 after purchasing an additional 50,736 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,929,225 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,988,856,000 after purchasing an additional 99,377 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,080,687 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,559,351,000 after buying an additional 274,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,184,928 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,105,945,000 after acquiring an additional 8,672 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on TMO. Barclays lowered shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $475.00 to $555.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $550.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $575.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $604.69.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $548.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $209.32 billion, a PE ratio of 35.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $571.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $528.18. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $415.60 and a fifty-two week high of $603.82.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $10.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.40 EPS. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.51 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.10%.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.98, for a total value of $5,979,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,039,491.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.98, for a total transaction of $5,979,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,039,491.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 1,207 shares in the company, valued at $660,192.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,277 shares of company stock worth $28,513,384 in the last three months. 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.