S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 1.8% of S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $5,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 76,051.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,416,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $876,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414,556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 32.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,481,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,372,157,000 after purchasing an additional 604,895 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $254,412,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 743.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 336,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $186,105,000 after buying an additional 296,646 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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 assumed coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $557.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $529.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $568.13. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year 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.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 quarter, insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.