Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. Lowers Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. cut its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 160,304 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,745 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up approximately 4.1% of Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $83,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $771,876,000 after buying an additional 225,568 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.3% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,236 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 45,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,289,000 after purchasing an additional 5,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 533 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $437.71 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $411.12 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $532.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $547.03.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

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.