Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Has $1.56 Million Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,995 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 38 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of TMO. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,719,477,000 after acquiring an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,972,000 after buying an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,868,000 after acquiring an additional 10,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 10,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,528,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE TMO opened at $581.72 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $545.51 and its 200-day moving average is $571.95. The firm has a market cap of $222.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. Sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.29 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total transaction of $4,975,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 have sold a total of 29,125 shares of company stock worth $16,207,439 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.