Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Purchases 8,867 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 75,076 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,867 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $38,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 86.2% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 121 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter worth $671,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter worth $334,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 68,321 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,782,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.3% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 6,283 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,475,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TMO. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 6.8 %

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $607.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $537.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $570.33. The stock has a market cap of $232.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.06, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. As a group, research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,076,178.88. This represents a 38.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,859,540. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.