B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Purchases Shares of 411,290 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 411,290 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,412,000. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 2.5% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TMO. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 318.2% during the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE TMO opened at $501.50 on Tuesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $465.90 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $191.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $584.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $581.90.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction 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 represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 37,150 shares of company stock valued at $20,651,865. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on TMO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. 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 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.