Ascent Group LLC Lowers Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Ascent Group LLC reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 26.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,096 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,933 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TMO. FMR LLC increased its stake 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 worth $4,872,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,453 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,630,896,000 after purchasing an additional 65,586 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 32.2% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,481,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,372,157,000 after purchasing an additional 604,895 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,443,937 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,511,746,000 after buying an additional 61,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,163,487 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,338,268,000 after buying an additional 19,536 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the company’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 $1,120,320.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $529.63 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $566.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $577.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $487.06 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.69 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $680.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.33.

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.