J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Acquires 290 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $522.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $200.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $548.41 and its 200 day moving average is $569.27.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on TMO. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $658.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.