First Financial Bankshares Inc Sells 354 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

First Financial Bankshares Inc reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 22.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,196 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 354 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $622,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,719,477,000 after buying an additional 127,564 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,972,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% in the third quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,868,000 after purchasing an additional 10,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 10,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,528,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $521.42 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $547.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $557.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.54, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.