Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 127,564 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 127,564 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.00% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $4,719,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 318.2% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 54 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on TMO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four 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, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $537.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $556.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $575.08. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $491.33 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $205.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors 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 purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.