Czech National Bank Increases Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 82,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,118 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $43,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 37.0% in the 2nd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 7,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,330,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 29,113 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $16,100,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 533 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth about $1,897,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $542.97 on Monday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $529.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $568.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board 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.