HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Trims Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC decreased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 743 shares during the quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. now owns 128,066 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $66,624,000 after acquiring an additional 10,250 shares during the last quarter. Tredje AP fonden grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 145,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $75,723,000 after buying an additional 23,968 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 11,754 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,115,000 after buying an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 37,414 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,464,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 203,668 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $105,954,000 after buying an additional 4,404 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America decreased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $512.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $193.51 billion, a PE ratio of 31.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $549.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $560.46.

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, 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%. Analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is 10.41%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.