Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Sold by Bridges Investment Management Inc.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 132,417 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,364 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $68,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on TMO. Bank of America reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO stock opened at $528.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $549.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $565.17. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Equities research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued 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 is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. The trade was a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.