Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Sells 2,036 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lowered its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,654 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,036 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 1.4% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $17,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 104,536.8% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,355,245 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,601,150,000 after acquiring an additional 8,347,260 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 61,754.7% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,842,175 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,136,000 after buying an additional 5,832,730 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,105,677,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,730,063 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,459,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,764,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 17,046.7% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 973,591 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $492,803,000 after buying an additional 967,913 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $597.98, for a total value of $5,979,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,039,491.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total value of $89,703.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,192.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 50,277 shares of company stock valued at $28,513,384. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $581.21 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $415.60 and a twelve month high of $603.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $565.13 and its 200 day moving average is $520.22. The stock has a market cap of $221.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.62, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.80.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.64 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.73 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. Research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on TMO shares. HSBC began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $670.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Citigroup started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, March 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $620.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays downgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $555.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $599.00.

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.