Fourpath Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Fourpath Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 207 shares during the period. Fourpath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $593.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $226.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $541.37 and a 200 day moving average of $571.18.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,859,540. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on TMO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $658.00.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.