Empowered Funds LLC Grows Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 7.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,688 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 686 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,368,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 140,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,093,000 after acquiring an additional 8,180 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,161,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 216.6% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 18,358 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $513.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $196.25 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $464.17 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. The company’s 50 day moving average is $586.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $582.34.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.69 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,150 shares of company stock valued at $20,651,865. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TMO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bernstein Bank increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.