Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. reduced its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,458 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 807 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $15,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $254,412,000. Lindsell Train Ltd bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $211,858,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% during 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 buying an additional 262,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 646,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $400,024,000 after buying an additional 259,123 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $533.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $549.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $566.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.