Nwam LLC Reduces Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Nwam LLC decreased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,667 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,647 shares during the period. Nwam LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cable Hill Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 1,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 48,904 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,441,000 after purchasing an additional 5,651 shares in the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth about $237,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth about $302,000. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 13,964 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,264,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TMO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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 note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE TMO opened at $523.40 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $549.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $565.93. The stock has a market cap of $197.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.