Polen Capital Management LLC Sells 345,591 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Polen Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,461,195 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 345,591 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 3.5% of Polen Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Polen Capital Management LLC owned 0.64% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $1,280,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,810,000 after purchasing an additional 761,649 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $377,901,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth about $254,412,000. Finally, Lindsell Train Ltd purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth about $211,858,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE:TMO opened at $523.44 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The company has a market cap of $197.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $548.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $558.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.41%.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.23.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.