Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) is Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s 6th Largest Position

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,655 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises 2.9% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $19,581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,386 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,387,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.4% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 16,728 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 39.4% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 198 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd now owns 16,025 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the period. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 2,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,528,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.2 %

TMO stock opened at $514.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $196.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $573.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $579.75. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $480.57 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were 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 owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 37,150 shares of company stock valued at $20,651,865 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TMO. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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 report on Friday, September 20th. Bernstein Bank raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.33.

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.