First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Trims Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,101 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 406 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $11,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 98,152 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $54,278,000 after buying an additional 15,009 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 24.5% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 619 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Sepio Capital LP grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.6% in the second quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 3,980 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 40.9% during the 2nd quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 465 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter worth about $375,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TMO shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 44,850 shares of company stock worth $24,666,097 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of TMO opened at $575.21 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $533.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $569.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.02 billion, a PE ratio of 36.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The business 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%. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.69 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.