Baron Wealth Management LLC Increases Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of TMO. 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. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 54 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 2.3 %

TMO opened at $501.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $584.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $581.90. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $465.90 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company has a market capitalization of $191.82 billion, a PE ratio of 31.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast 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 purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related 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 value of $4,975,740.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,076,178.88. This represents a 38.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 37,150 shares of company stock valued at $20,651,865. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 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, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.