Flputnam Investment Management Co. Reduces Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 27.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 15,898 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $21,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $528.99 on Friday. 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 quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $549.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $565.44. The company has a market cap of $199.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted 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 return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.