Ruggaard & Associates LLC Lowers Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Ruggaard & Associates LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 930 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. Ruggaard & Associates LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,531,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,882,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KRS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on TMO. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America dropped 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 research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 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 transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $437.71 on Friday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $532.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $547.47. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $437.22 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The company has a market cap of $165.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

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.