Benjamin Edwards Inc. Boosts Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 538.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,882 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $8,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.1% during the second 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 period. IFG Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. raised 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 worth $570,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.9% in the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,123 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.1% during the second quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 913 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,175,513.68. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % 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 worth $20,651,865 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $529.95 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $566.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $577.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $487.06 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $202.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.77.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TMO shares. Stephens started 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target 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. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.