Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 8,647 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 71.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,455 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 8,647 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,409,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $33,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,603 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 269 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.0% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 value of $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on TMO. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO stock opened at $528.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $549.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $565.44. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $199.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

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.