Swiss National Bank Buys 2,800 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,133,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for about 0.5% of Swiss National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $700,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 318.2% during the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% in the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 54 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the first quarter valued at $32,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on 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. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $513.08 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $586.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $582.34. The stock has a market cap of $196.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $464.17 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,175,513.68. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,150 shares of company stock valued at $20,651,865. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.