Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 56,728 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 235 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $35,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TMO. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 318.2% in the 2nd quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $513.26 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $480.57 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $575.70 and its 200-day moving average is $580.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total value of $4,975,740.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,076,178.88. The trade was a 38.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.