Park Avenue Securities LLC Reduces Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Park Avenue Securities LLC trimmed its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,873 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,293 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $8,778,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 127,564 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,972,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $12,730,000 after buying an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $28,868,000 after buying an additional 10,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 82,934 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $43,145,000 after acquiring an additional 5,118 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TMO. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $648.95.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.8 %

TMO traded up $10.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $561.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,834,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,147,441. The company has a market capitalization of $214.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The stock's 50 day moving average is $529.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $568.01.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

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

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.