Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,141 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 76 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 valued at $16,582,503,000 after purchasing an additional 180,618 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,116,956 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,414,693,000 after acquiring an additional 55,458 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,418,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,285,838,000 after purchasing an additional 50,736 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted 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 last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 61,754.7% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. TheStreet raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $575.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $670.00 price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $475.00 to $555.00 in a 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $599.00.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the company’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 value of $89,703.08. Following the transaction, 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 can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 14,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 12,901 shares in the company, valued at $7,250,362. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the transaction, the director now 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 90 days, insiders sold 50,277 shares of company stock worth $28,513,384. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded up $1.10 on Thursday, reaching $580.47. 408,223 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,607,172. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $415.60 and a 1-year high of $603.82. The firm has a market cap of $221.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company’s 50-day moving average is $564.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $519.80.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

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.