Montecito Bank & Trust Lowers Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Montecito Bank & Trust reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Armistice Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 275.0% in the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 56,158 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,055,000 after buying an additional 41,182 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 18.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 98,152 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $54,278,000 after acquiring an additional 15,009 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 260,829 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $134,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,098 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 32.2% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,481,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,372,157,000 after buying an additional 604,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dundas Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 70,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,842,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $574.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $219.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $531.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $569.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released 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 company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors 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 is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bernstein Bank boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 44,850 shares of company stock worth $24,666,097 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% 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.