Ascent Group LLC Reduces Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Ascent Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,096 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,933 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in TMO. Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisors LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.3% during the third quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 532 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.8% during the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,031 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,123 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 913 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on TMO shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bernstein Bank upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” 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 issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.33.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE TMO opened at $529.63 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $566.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $577.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $202.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $487.06 and a 52-week high of $627.88.

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 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 firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.69 EPS. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders 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 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management 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.