Bell Asset Management Ltd Trims Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

Bell Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 23.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,466 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,274 shares during the period. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $3,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 126.9% in the third quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 59 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 825.0% in the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 74 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 35.1% during the third quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 77 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $512.40, for a total transaction of $2,562,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 123,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,499,170. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,230,982.40. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $501.72 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $186.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.96. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $385.46 and a 52-week high of $643.99. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $567.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $549.05.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $685.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $696.00 to $683.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $633.68.

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.