Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 61.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,010 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 32,033 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $10,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.4% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,142 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,376,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 11,337 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,269,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 28,900 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $15,982,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 275,144 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $152,160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO traded down $1.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $559.72. 2,134,669 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,426,114. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $529.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $568.33. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $214.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 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 $168,048.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the company'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 $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TMO. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bernstein Bank raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $680.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $648.95.

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.