AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Decreases Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lowered its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,465 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 7,919 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $25,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 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 $575.21 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $220.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.06, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $533.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $569.32.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,175,513.68. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 44,850 shares of company stock worth $24,666,097 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.95.

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.