City Holding Co. Trims Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

City Holding Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,742 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 573 shares during the period. City Holding Co.'s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of TMO. State Street Corp raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $10,100,655,000 after buying an additional 124,996 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,872,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,453 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,935,377,000 after purchasing an additional 262,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,630,896,000 after buying an additional 65,586 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO traded down $1.99 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $559.72. 2,134,669 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,426,114. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $529.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $568.56. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $214.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

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.