Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 374,220 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 18,761 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up approximately 0.7% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 0.10% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $194,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,719,477,000 after acquiring an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,972,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% in the third quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,730,000 after buying an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,868,000 after acquiring an additional 10,606 shares during the period. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 10,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,528,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. Barclays reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of TMO opened at $531.41 on Thursday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $548.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $568.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $203.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.44%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. Corporate 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.