Fulton Bank N.A. Grows Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,161 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at $27,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter valued at $50,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO traded up $0.53 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $546.18. The company had a trading volume of 603,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,542,528. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $530.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $568.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on TMO shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

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.