Advisory Alpha LLC Raises Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,432 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on TMO. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on 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. 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $574.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $530.86 and its 200 day moving average is $568.96. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

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