Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Sells 400 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lowered its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,449 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $3,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on TMO shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted 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. Bank of America cut their price objective 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. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $532.55 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $548.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $567.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

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 given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost 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 is currently 9.44%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’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 $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’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 transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.