Atwood & Palmer Inc. Raises Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,676 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 1.9% of Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $28,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,719,477,000 after acquiring an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,972,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,868,000 after purchasing an additional 10,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 82,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $43,145,000 after purchasing an additional 5,118 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $559.72 on Tuesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $214.09 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $529.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $568.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on TMO shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.95.

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.