Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Sells 49,375 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 37.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,045 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 49,375 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for about 1.1% of Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $43,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:TMO traded down $7.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $516.57. 2,720,095 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,056,704. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $549.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $563.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $194.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last announced its 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase 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 payout ratio is 10.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

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.