Main Street Research LLC Has $861,000 Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Main Street Research LLC decreased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,654 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 64 shares during the period. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $4,872,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,810,000 after buying an additional 761,649 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $377,901,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $254,412,000. Finally, Lindsell Train Ltd bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $211,858,000. 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,095,799. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $531.74 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $549.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $561.98.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. 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 a boost 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 declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.