Legacy Private Trust Co. Purchases 205 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Legacy Private Trust Co. raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Legacy Private Trust Co.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $6,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:TMO traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $545.00. 1,804,889 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,791,690. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $530.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $568.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.17, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.78%.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

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.