West Family Investments Inc. Has $255,000 Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

West Family Investments Inc. decreased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 53.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 491 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 571 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Destination Wealth Management increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 35,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $18,585,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,950 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 179.5% during the fourth quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 14,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,301,000 after purchasing an additional 9,012 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 407,490 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $211,989,000 after purchasing an additional 78,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 241.2% during the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 4,388 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,095,799 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:TMO opened at $531.74 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The company has a market capitalization of $200.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $549.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $562.68. 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 (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

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.