Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Stake Trimmed by Mitchell Capital Management Co.

Mitchell Capital Management Co. trimmed its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 93.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 890 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 12,469 shares during the quarter. Mitchell Capital Management Co.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,100,655,000 after purchasing an additional 124,996 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,872,761,000 after buying an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during 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 buying an additional 127,564 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,935,377,000 after acquiring an additional 262,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,665,902 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,386,883,000 after acquiring an additional 29,344 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.1 %

TMO stock opened at $528.99 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $549.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $565.17.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.