First PREMIER Bank Trims Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

First PREMIER Bank decreased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 43.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 90 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. First PREMIER Bank’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $47,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter valued at about $50,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.3 %

TMO stock opened at $574.72 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $531.52 and its 200 day moving average is $569.01. The firm has a market cap of $219.83 billion, a PE ratio of 36.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.76. 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 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.69 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.