Polen Capital Management LLC Sells 138,713 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Key Points

• Polen Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. by 5.6%, now holding $1.16 billion worth of shares, which accounts for approximately 3.6% of the company's total holdings.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific reported a revenue of $10.86 billion for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share.
• A number of analysts have revised their price targets for Thermo Fisher Scientific, with an average target of $593.00, signaling a favorable outlook from market experts.

Polen Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,322,482 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 138,713 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 3.6% of Polen Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Polen Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.62% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $1,155,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the first quarter worth about $37,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $665.00 to $620.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $450.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $535.00 price objective (up previously from $525.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $500.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $593.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

TMO traded up $8.31 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $485.72. The stock had a trading volume of 2,054,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,501,960. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $429.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $461.95. The firm has a market cap of $183.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.74. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $385.46 and a one year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.22 by $0.14. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 16.82% and a net margin of 15.24%. The company had revenue of $10.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.37 EPS. Thermo Fisher Scientific's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's payout ratio is 9.95%.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.98, for a total transaction of $191,992.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,367 shares in the company, valued at $10,735,712.66. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.45, for a total value of $3,635,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,340,824.30. The trade was a 6.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,400 shares of company stock worth $8,345,792 in the last quarter. Corporate 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.