Smith Salley Wealth Management Has $25.32 Million Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 13.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,671 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,954 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for approximately 1.6% of Smith Salley Wealth Management's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Smith Salley Wealth Management's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $25,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,027 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 46,505 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $24,193,000 after acquiring an additional 3,070 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 1,935 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 129.3% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 766 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on TMO shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of 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. Barclays dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $680.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded down $1.99 on Friday, reaching $559.72. The stock had a trading volume of 2,134,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,426,114. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The business's 50-day moving average price is $529.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $568.33. 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 cap of $214.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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

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

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 approximately $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $168,048.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.