Smith Salley Wealth Management Grows Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Smith Salley Wealth Management grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,954 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 1.6% of Smith Salley Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $25,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,142 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.9% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,376,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 11,337 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,269,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 28,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,982,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 275,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $152,160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

TMO opened at $559.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The company has a market cap of $214.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $529.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $568.09.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

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.