Merit Financial Group LLC Trims Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 43.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,794 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,920 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 294 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 526 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 249 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 141 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 446 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. HSBC increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $621.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $590.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $607.35.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.2 %

TMO stock opened at $572.38 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $415.60 and a fifty-two week high of $603.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $575.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $532.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $218.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.80.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The medical research company reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 14.20%. As a group, analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total value of $89,703.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,207 shares in the company, valued at $660,192.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $597.98, for a total transaction of $5,979,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at $74,039,491.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total value of $89,703.08. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,277 shares of company stock worth $35,373,364 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently 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.