Leelyn Smith LLC Increases Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Leelyn Smith LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,980 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 76,051.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,416,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $876,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414,556 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the first quarter valued at approximately $705,636,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 32.2% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,481,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,372,157,000 after acquiring an additional 604,895 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $254,412,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 743.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 336,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $186,105,000 after purchasing an additional 296,646 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 38.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 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 $168,048.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,150 shares of company stock valued at $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 Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $513.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $196.32 billion, a PE ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $575.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $580.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on TMO shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Stephens started 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 for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.