Granite Investment Partners LLC Has $5.80 Million Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Granite Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 49.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,140 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 10,801 shares during the quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded down $10.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $426.11. 3,037,150 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,715,026. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $409.85 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $497.67 and a 200 day moving average of $533.64. The company has a market capitalization of $160.85 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TMO. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $475.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $580.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of 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 note on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $642.67.

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.