Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 5,688.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,599 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 318.2% during the 2nd quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 54 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter worth $33,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. 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. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Four research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO traded down $4.27 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $509.93. The stock had a trading volume of 278,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,496,650. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $573.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $579.75. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $480.57 and a one year high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $195.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 approximately $67,175,513.68. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by 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.