Alta Capital Management LLC Sells 898 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Alta Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,153 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 898 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for 2.7% of Alta Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Alta Capital Management LLC's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $45,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. FMR LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $4,872,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,453 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $396,810,000 after buying an additional 761,649 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $254,412,000. Lindsell Train Ltd acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $211,858,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,810,128 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,461,913,000 after buying an additional 366,191 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 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 $5,753,421.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO stock traded down $7.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $516.57. 2,720,095 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,056,704. The company has a 50-day moving average of $549.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $563.73. The company has a market capitalization of $194.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend payout ratio is 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.