Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,941 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,167 shares during the period. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $10,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 989,837 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $527,524,000 after buying an additional 2,928 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Holdings Ltd. raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 21.4% in the third quarter. Phoenix Holdings Ltd. now owns 9,366 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,750,000 after buying an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. DMC Group LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 16.5% in the third quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 592 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. S. R. Schill & Associates increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. S. R. Schill & Associates now owns 1,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Check Capital Management Inc. CA acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth approximately $219,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock traded up $1.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $573.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,438,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,317,052. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $415.60 and a twelve month high of $603.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $573.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $530.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.95 billion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.80.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The medical research company reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.41. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.20% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The business had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on TMO. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $621.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $620.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $575.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $515.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.76.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total value of $89,703.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.98, for a total value of $5,979,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at $74,039,491.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,192.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,277 shares of company stock worth $28,513,384 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% 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.