Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Lowers Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lessened its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,112 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 456 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $13,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $580.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $542.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $571.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.44%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.