Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Bought by Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership

Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 43.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,750 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for about 0.5% of Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $908,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TMO has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 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 three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of TMO opened at $561.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $214.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.20, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $529.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $568.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced 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%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’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 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

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

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.