Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,300 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 7,800 shares during the quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.'s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $20,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded down $6.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $513.77. 1,170,740 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,538,611. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $545.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $554.91. The firm has a market cap of $193.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Remove Ads

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were 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 approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on TMO shares. Bank of America dropped 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 research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $653.23.

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.