Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 1,089 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Highland Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,089 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for approximately 1.0% of Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $16,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bornite Capital Management LP lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP now owns 30,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,719,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 2,928 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,729,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 563.5% during the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 19,844 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,721,000 after buying an additional 16,853 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 60.5% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 321 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $190,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 669 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and set a $670.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, TheStreet raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $599.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $579.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.80. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $415.60 and a twelve month high of $603.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $564.32 and a 200-day moving average of $519.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.64 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.73 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total value of $89,703.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,192.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,192.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,547 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.62, for a total value of $3,054,289.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,608 shares in the company, valued at $24,011,436.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,277 shares of company stock valued at $28,513,384. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.