ING Groep NV Increases Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

ING Groep NV raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 84.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,853 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,865 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $82,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,409,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,759,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 142.9% during the third quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 1,394 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $856,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the period. Westhampton Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.4% during the third quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 22,127 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,686,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $531.41 on Thursday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The company has a market capitalization of $203.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $548.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $568.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly 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 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TMO. Bank of America cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.00.

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.