First Financial Bankshares Inc Sells 354 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

First Financial Bankshares Inc cut its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,196 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 354 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $622,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $521.42 on Wednesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $196.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $547.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $557.48.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. 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 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 10.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on TMO. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank raised 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, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

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.