Becker Capital Management Inc. Sells 125 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Becker Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,201 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $427.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $409.85 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $482.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $524.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.05. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.11 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TMO. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $580.00 to $570.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $665.00 to $620.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Argus reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $470.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $475.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $651.00 to $637.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $610.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.