Commerce Bank Grows Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 229,601 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,534 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 0.9% of Commerce Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $142,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Lafayette Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 532 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,031 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,123 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,886 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. 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 research report on Friday, September 20th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, 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 for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of TMO opened at $509.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.75 billion, a PE ratio of 31.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $465.90 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $581.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $581.46.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its 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. 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 firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.69 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 37,150 shares of company stock valued at $20,651,865 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.