Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 68,927 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 19.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 418,365 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,927 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.11% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $217,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Portfolios Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Portfolios Inc. now owns 641 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 9,091 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,729,000 after buying an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,871 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,054,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 4,871 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,536,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $78,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE TMO opened at $538.31 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $548.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $571.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TMO. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $658.00.

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.