Strategy Asset Managers LLC Raises Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,195 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 76,051.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,416,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $876,152,000 after buying an additional 1,414,556 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 10.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,493,852 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,842,762,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,059 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $705,636,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 32.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,481,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,372,157,000 after acquiring an additional 604,895 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $254,412,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on TMO shares. Barclays cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.33.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total transaction of $4,975,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,076,178.88. The trade was a 38.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.6 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $509.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $194.75 billion, a PE ratio of 31.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $581.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $581.46. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $465.90 and a 52 week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.