AMG National Trust Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

AMG National Trust Bank reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 90,841 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,259,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 119.3% in the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 10,186 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,299,000 after buying an additional 5,542 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,581 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,504,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 35,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $18,585,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,950 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,180,000 after buying an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $531.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $549.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $562.68. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. 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 (NYSE:TMO) last posted 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 return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 10.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,095,799. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on TMO shares. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.