Walter Public Investments Inc. Sells 9,604 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Walter Public Investments Inc. trimmed its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 49.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,946 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 9,604 shares during the quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $254,412,000. Lindsell Train Ltd bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $211,858,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,935,377,000 after acquiring an additional 262,062 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 66.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 646,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $400,024,000 after acquiring an additional 259,123 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded 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. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE TMO opened at $533.00 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $549.14 and its 200 day moving average is $566.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $201.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted 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 return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. Research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often 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 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 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 value of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.