1,032 Shares in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,032 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $638,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 829 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.9% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 92,057 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $50,908,000 after purchasing an additional 2,591 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 2,303 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 72,317 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $39,991,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 23,081 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $12,764,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded up $2.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $526.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,553,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,312,332. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $550.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $573.72. The stock has a market cap of $201.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS 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 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 business's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.69 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on TMO shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $652.30.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.