Professional Advisory Services Inc. Raises Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Professional Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 57.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,968 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,479 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for 4.0% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Professional Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $29,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at $50,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on TMO. Redburn Atlantic assumed 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. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $605.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owns 12,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded down $1.99 during trading on Friday, reaching $559.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,134,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,426,114. 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. The firm has a market cap of $214.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. The business's fifty day moving average price is $529.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $568.09.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is 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.