Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Raises Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $40,525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,414,556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 604,895 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $254,412,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 743.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 336,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $186,105,000 after acquiring an additional 296,646 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’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 $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded down $2.78 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $548.69. 110,183 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,967,913. 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 capitalization of $209.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $529.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $568.13.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on TMO shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.