Moody National Bank Trust Division Reduces Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

Moody National Bank Trust Division trimmed its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 31.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,248 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,931 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.4% in the second quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA now owns 14,490 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at $41,393,000. Weaver Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at $506,000. VELA Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 65.5% in the 3rd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 9,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,513,000 after buying an additional 3,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 276,545 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $134,130,000 after acquiring an additional 62,790 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $512.40, for a total value of $2,562,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 123,925 shares in the company, valued at $63,499,170. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $541.20, for a total value of $216,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,752 shares in the company, valued at $11,230,982.40. This represents a 1.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Sunday, December 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $653.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $696.00 to $683.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $633.68.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $489.71 on Wednesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $385.46 and a 12-month high of $643.99. The company has a market cap of $181.92 billion, a PE ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $538.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $548.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The medical research company reported $6.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.45 by $0.12. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 15.05%.The company had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 10.60%.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) is a global provider of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, software, and services that support research, clinical, and industrial laboratories. The company supplies analytical instruments and laboratory equipment, life sciences reagents and kits, specialty diagnostics, and a broad range of consumables used by researchers, clinicians, and manufacturers. Its offerings also include laboratory information management and data-analysis software, as well as service solutions such as instrument maintenance, validation, and logistics that help customers run complex workflows efficiently.

Thermo Fisher operates through multiple business areas that broadly cover life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services, including contract development and manufacturing for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.