Webster Bank N. A. Lowers Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Webster Bank N. A. cut its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 547 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises 1.0% of Webster Bank N. A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $9,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 24.5% in the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 619 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter worth about $375,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,524 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $843,000 after buying an additional 653 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 11,029 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,099,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviso Wealth Management lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.9% during the second quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $883,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.1 %

TMO opened at $575.21 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $533.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $569.81. 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 fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.06, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.12, for a total transaction of $5,581,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,757,296.96. This represents a 22.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 34,850 shares of company stock worth $19,123,197 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on TMO. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

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.