Artemis Investment Management LLP Trims Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Artemis Investment Management LLP decreased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,060 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,817 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $7,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE:TMO traded down $1.99 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $559.72. The stock had a trading volume of 2,134,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,426,114. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.09 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $529.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $568.56.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.69 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors 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 purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's payout ratio is 9.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TMO. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bernstein Bank raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $648.95.

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.