Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Sells 8,457 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC decreased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 20.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,586 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 8,457 shares during the quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $17,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth $27,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at $7,134,197.76. This represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on TMO. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.52.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:TMO traded up $0.94 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $545.87. 1,282,457 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,703,036. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $208.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $530.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $568.07.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

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.