Community Trust & Investment Co. Increases Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Community Trust & Investment Co. increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,388 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $17,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings 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 valued at $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,972,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,837 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 140,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,093,000 after purchasing an additional 8,180 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on TMO. Barclays lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America reduced 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 research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

TMO stock opened at $557.49 on Wednesday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $529.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $568.13. The stock has a market cap of $213.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.