Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Acquires 173 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bernstein Bank upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE TMO opened at $571.44 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $547.34 and its 200 day moving average is $572.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.58 billion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management 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.