Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Sold by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 110,969 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 2,378 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $57,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. State Street Corp raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $10,100,655,000 after buying an additional 124,996 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,719,477,000 after buying an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 262,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 366,191 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on TMO shares. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:TMO traded up $8.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $524.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,684,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,049,434. The firm has a market cap of $197.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The firm's 50 day moving average is $548.99 and its 200-day moving average is $563.46. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. 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 payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

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.