Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO Shares Sold by Consolidated Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• Consolidated Investment Group LLC cut its Thermo Fisher stake by 21.8% in Q4, selling 3,000 shares and leaving it with 10,730 shares worth about $6.22 million (0.7% of the firm's portfolio).
• Several large institutions — including Capital World Investors, Franklin Resources and BNY Mellon — increased positions, leaving institutional ownership at about 89.2%, while analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a $631.25 target price.
• Company developments: Thermo Fisher beat quarterly estimates (EPS of $6.57 vs. $6.45), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.47, and saw insider selling (including the CEO's sale of 5,000 shares).

Consolidated Investment Group LLC reduced its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 21.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,730 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises 0.7% of Consolidated Investment Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Consolidated Investment Group LLC's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $6,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,285,145 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,988,132,000 after buying an additional 706,572 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,925,671 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,874,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,125 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 54.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,571,857 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,732,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,967 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,087,666 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,789,148,000 after purchasing an additional 150,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,721,101 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,319,789,000 after purchasing an additional 31,298 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on TMO shares. Wall Street Zen raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $615.00 price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $683.00 price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $583.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $631.25.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $541.20, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 123,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,499,170. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of TMO opened at $531.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $197.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company's fifty day moving average is $502.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $550.12. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $385.46 and a fifty-two week high of $643.99.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The medical research company reported $6.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.10 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's payout ratio is currently 10.60%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

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.

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