MONECO Advisors LLC Sells 4,200 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

MONECO Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 81.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 959 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,200 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,872,761,000 after buying an additional 1,294,453 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $254,412,000. Lindsell Train Ltd bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $211,858,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,935,377,000 after purchasing an additional 262,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 646,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $400,024,000 after purchasing an additional 259,123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $535.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $548.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $566.86. The company has a market cap of $204.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TMO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.