Zacks Investment Management Buys 5,236 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 5,236 shares during the quarter. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $28,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,100,655,000 after buying an additional 124,996 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,630,896,000 after purchasing an additional 65,586 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 604,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,443,937 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,511,746,000 after buying an additional 61,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total value of $5,542,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,175,513.68. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $529.36 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $488.02 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $558.08 and a 200-day moving average of $575.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $202.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share 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 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 company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a share buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Bernstein Bank lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.33.

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.