Erste Asset Management GmbH Sells 26,537 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Erste Asset Management GmbH decreased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 26.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 73,321 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 26,537 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $38,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,531,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connable Office Inc. boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the third quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 5,917 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,660,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on TMO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE TMO opened at $512.94 on Thursday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.03, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $549.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $560.46.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released 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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

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.