Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 52.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,135 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TMO. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,100,655,000 after buying an additional 124,996 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,935,377,000 after buying an additional 262,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,630,896,000 after buying an additional 65,586 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.12, for a total value of $5,581,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,757,296.96. This trade represents a 22.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 34,850 shares of company stock worth $19,123,197 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE TMO opened at $583.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $223.16 billion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $533.60 and its 200 day moving average is $569.81.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders 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 was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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.