Kestra Investment Management LLC Invests $544,000 in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 879 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $544,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 318.2% in the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 54 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 38.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,150 shares of company stock valued at $20,651,865. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO opened at $529.63 on Monday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $487.06 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $202.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $566.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $577.69.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.69 EPS. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on TMO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Stephens began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Evercore ISI reduced 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. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.33.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.