Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. Reduces Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 69.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,390 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 19,300 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,100,655,000 after acquiring an additional 124,996 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,935,377,000 after buying an additional 262,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,630,896,000 after buying an additional 65,586 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 2.2 %

TMO opened at $580.63 on Wednesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $542.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $571.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. On average, research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding 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 board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on TMO shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays reduced their price target on 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. Bank of America dropped 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.00.

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.