Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 6,713 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 147,421 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,713 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $76,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was 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 owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on TMO shares. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Thursday, October 24th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE TMO opened at $572.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $219.11 billion, a PE ratio of 35.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $530.22 and a 200-day moving average of $568.73.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.69 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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

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.