GS Investments Inc. Trims Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

GS Investments Inc. lowered its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,592 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 178 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 3.0% of GS Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. GS Investments Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $6,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $771,876,000 after buying an additional 225,568 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,549 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after buying an additional 746 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,956 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,447,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1,868.3% during the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,940 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,149,000 after purchasing an additional 9,435 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value 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. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $518.21 on Thursday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $547.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $557.21. The company has a market cap of $195.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.35, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

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.