Buffington Mohr McNeal Sells 247 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Buffington Mohr McNeal lowered its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 247 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for 3.0% of Buffington Mohr McNeal’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $14,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,760,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $16,582,503,000 after acquiring an additional 180,618 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,418,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,285,838,000 after acquiring an additional 50,736 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 104,536.8% during 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 last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 61,754.7% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,842,175 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,136,000 after acquiring an additional 5,832,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,105,677,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.98, for a total value of $5,979,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at $74,039,491.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 14,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.00, for a total transaction of $8,186,092.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,250,362. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.98, for a total transaction of $5,979,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,039,491.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,277 shares of company stock worth $28,513,384 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO traded down $2.85 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $555.02. The company had a trading volume of 444,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,531,203. The company has a market cap of $211.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.82, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.80. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $415.60 and a 52 week high of $603.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $571.79 and its 200 day moving average is $526.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.64 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company had revenue of $10.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 10.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TheStreet raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Raymond James lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $515.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $620.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $475.00 to $555.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $601.56.

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.