Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Sells 206 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,848 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 206 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises 1.1% of Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $7,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 2,532 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,317,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,609 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,398,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 75,076 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,857,000 after purchasing an additional 8,867 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $514,000. Finally, Westhampton Capital LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC now owns 2,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,192,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on TMO. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bernstein Bank increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO opened at $607.06 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The company has a market cap of $232.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $537.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $570.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. Research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s 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 repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,859,540 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by 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.