D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 1,418 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,740 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,418 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TMO. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 76,051.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,416,416 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $876,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the third 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. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $254,412,000. Lindsell Train Ltd acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $211,858,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,935,377,000 after purchasing an additional 262,062 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.8 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded down $4.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $533.63. The stock had a trading volume of 719,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,059,064. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.11 billion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $548.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $568.15.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.44%.

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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on TMO. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America cut 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 research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $658.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.