Tortoise Investment Management LLC Sells 19 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Tortoise Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 182 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 19 shares during the quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $95,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 60,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,436,000 after buying an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Isthmus Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 152.3% in the 4th quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 1,438 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $975,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,423,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of 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 cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO stock opened at $526.32 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $549.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $561.44. The stock has a market cap of $198.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is 10.41%.

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.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % 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 $11,095,799. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by 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.