Legato Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Legato Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,982 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 636 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions 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 that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TMO shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $538.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $548.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $571.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.90 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Equities research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.