Prospera Private Wealth LLC Increases Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Prospera Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 1,868.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,940 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,435 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 1.1% of Prospera Private Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Prospera Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $6,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 76,051.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,416,416 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $876,152,000 after buying an additional 1,414,556 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,493,852 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $7,842,762,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,059 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the first quarter worth $705,636,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 32.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,481,257 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,372,157,000 after acquiring an additional 604,895 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $254,412,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,076,178.88. The trade was a 38.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 0.3 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded up $1.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $510.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 760,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,488,263. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $581.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $581.46. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $476.45 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $195.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS 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 business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.69 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TMO. Barclays reduced 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $649.33.

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.