Meridian Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,855 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,147,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 32.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,481,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,372,157,000 after acquiring an additional 604,895 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,443,937 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,511,746,000 after buying an additional 61,017 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,740,482 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $962,482,000 after acquiring an additional 20,075 shares during the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.1% in the second quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 1,500,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $829,500,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 76,051.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,416,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $876,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414,556 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $513.26 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $575.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $580.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.79. 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 12 month low of $480.57 and a 12 month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total value of $4,975,740.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,076,178.88. This represents a 38.12 % 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 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on TMO shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.