Erste Asset Management GmbH Buys Shares of 99,858 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 99,858 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,488,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bellevue Group AG grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 53,623 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,170,000 after buying an additional 10,997 shares during the last quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 783 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Tradition Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.4% during the third quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,171,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 344,068 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $212,830,000 after purchasing an additional 184,797 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on TMO shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on 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. Finally, Bernstein Bank increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total value of $4,975,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at $8,076,178.88. This trade represents a 38.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,150 shares of company stock valued at $20,651,865. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE TMO opened at $529.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $202.58 billion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $566.33 and a 200-day moving average of $577.84. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $487.06 and a 12 month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.69 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.