Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Stake Reduced by Vestor Capital LLC

Vestor Capital LLC cut its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 95.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 675 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 13,416 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $63,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Silicon Valley Capital Partners acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 229.2% during the 1st quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 62.5% in the 1st quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 91 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.77, for a total transaction of $1,673,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,792,210.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.77, for a total value of $1,673,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,792,210.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.41, for a total value of $4,544,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 131,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,607,231.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,778,910. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $470.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.63. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $415.60 and a 52 week high of $609.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $481.23 and a 200-day moving average of $515.47.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The medical research company reported $5.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.61 by $0.08. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 13.68%. The business had revenue of $10.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $630.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $580.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 24th. TheStreet downgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, November 6th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Thermo Fisher Scientific from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $593.94.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the United States 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, clinical next-generation sequencing, bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.