Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Holdings Decreased by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 53.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 343 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 395 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 54 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $526.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $201.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $550.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $573.72.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bernstein Bank increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $652.30.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.