James Hambro & Partners LLP Trims Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

James Hambro & Partners LLP lessened its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 241,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 8,393 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for approximately 5.0% of James Hambro & Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. James Hambro & Partners LLP’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $139,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,285,145 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,988,132,000 after buying an additional 706,572 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 21.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,925,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,874,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028,125 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 54.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,571,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,732,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262,967 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 25.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,936,998 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,424,503,000 after acquiring an additional 594,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,721,101 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,319,789,000 after purchasing an additional 31,298 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $512.40, for a total transaction of $2,562,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 123,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,499,170. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $541.20, for a total value of $216,480.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,752 shares in the company, valued at $11,230,982.40. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on TMO. Robert W. Baird set a $653.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $685.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. HSBC upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $632.50.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $480.47 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $527.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $548.21. The company has a market capitalization of $178.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.89. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $385.46 and a 52-week high of $643.99.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The medical research company reported $6.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.45 by $0.12. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 15.05%.The company had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.60%.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) is a global provider of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, software, and services that support research, clinical, and industrial laboratories. The company supplies analytical instruments and laboratory equipment, life sciences reagents and kits, specialty diagnostics, and a broad range of consumables used by researchers, clinicians, and manufacturers. Its offerings also include laboratory information management and data-analysis software, as well as service solutions such as instrument maintenance, validation, and logistics that help customers run complex workflows efficiently.

Thermo Fisher operates through multiple business areas that broadly cover life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services, including contract development and manufacturing for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.