Retirement Systems of Alabama Raises Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 147.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,155 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 123,952 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.05% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $128,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $876,152,000 after buying an additional 1,414,556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,872,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 32.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,481,257 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,372,157,000 after acquiring an additional 604,895 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at $254,412,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 743.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 336,537 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $186,105,000 after purchasing an additional 296,646 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE:TMO traded up $2.28 on Friday, hitting $526.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,466,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,539,563. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.83, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $551.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $574.11.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.69 EPS. Thermo Fisher Scientific's revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board 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 given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on 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 owns 12,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,134,197.76. This represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on TMO. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $648.62.

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.