EP Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,236 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $10,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $10,100,655,000 after acquiring an additional 124,996 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,630,896,000 after buying an additional 65,586 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 604,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,443,937 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,511,746,000 after acquiring an additional 61,017 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock traded up $8.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $529.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,869,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,146,533. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $558.08 and a 200 day moving average of $575.41. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $488.02 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $202.48 billion, a PE ratio of 33.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.77.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. The company 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%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on TMO shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.