Atlas Brown Inc. Has $279,000 Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Atlas Brown Inc. reduced its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 536 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 44 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Jacobs & Co. CA grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 15,206 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,910,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473 shares during the period. CCM Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 31,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,606,000 after buying an additional 2,822 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 126,603 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $65,863,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 20,331 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,577,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Private Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 11,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,197,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TMO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price objective for the company. Stephens initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.52.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE TMO traded down $1.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $543.67. The company had a trading volume of 2,305,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,858,875. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $530.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $568.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.09, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.69 earnings per share. Equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.78%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total value of $5,542,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. 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.