Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Trims Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lowered its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 27.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,225 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,597 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFG Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 532 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,720,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Axiom Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,425,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on TMO shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $574.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $219.87 billion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $531.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $569.01. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,850 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.89, for a total transaction of $3,263,656.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,611,804.88. This trade represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 44,850 shares of company stock valued at $24,666,097 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company 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.