Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC Raises Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for approximately 1.8% of Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 76,051.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,416,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $876,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414,556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 32.2% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,481,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,372,157,000 after buying an additional 604,895 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $254,412,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,935,377,000 after acquiring an additional 262,062 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.89, for a total transaction of $3,263,656.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,611,804.88. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 44,850 shares of company stock valued at $24,666,097. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $574.83 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $531.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $569.01. The stock has a market cap of $219.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid 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 9.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on TMO. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Stephens began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bernstein Bank lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.