Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Sells 206 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,848 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 206 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 1.1% of Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $7,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,972,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% during the third quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 10,606 shares during the period. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in 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.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

TMO stock opened at $607.06 on Friday. 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 $232.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.06, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $537.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $570.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. Analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TMO shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bernstein Bank raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,859,540. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.