Principal Street Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Principal Street Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 102.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 764 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,979,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.1% during the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,507 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,551,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.0% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,158 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,283,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,872,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 17,707 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,953,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TMO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.33.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, 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 owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,175,513.68. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock traded up $0.94 on Tuesday, hitting $514.20. 3,063,549 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,502,132. The company has a market capitalization of $196.68 billion, a PE ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $480.57 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $573.70 and its 200 day moving average is $579.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.