Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Position Raised by Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5,688.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 6,599 shares during the quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 54 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter worth about $33,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on TMO shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO traded down $4.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $509.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 278,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,496,650. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $480.57 and a one year high of $627.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $573.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $579.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total value of $4,975,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,076,178.88. This represents a 38.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. The trade was 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 owned by corporate 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.