Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Sold by Fortis Capital Management LLC

Fortis Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 23.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,218 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 381 shares during the period. Fortis Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE TMO opened at $518.04 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year 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. The company has a market capitalization of $195.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $546.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $555.91.

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 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%. As a group, sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

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.