Ieq Capital LLC Sells 1,562 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Ieq Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,562 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $19,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,409,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 142.9% in the third quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 1,394 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.4% in the third quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 22,127 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,686,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.6 %

TMO stock opened at $531.41 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $548.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $568.36. The stock has a market cap of $203.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 9.44%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.