Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 18.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 37,765 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,996 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $23,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,458 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,232,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at $453,000. Meridian Management Co. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 5,703 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,528,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,104,441 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $683,174,000 after acquiring an additional 18,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iyo Bank Ltd. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 20.3% during the third quarter. Iyo Bank Ltd. now owns 10,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 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 $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,175,513.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,150 shares of company stock valued at $15,676,125 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TMO. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target 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 boosted their price objective 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO traded down $1.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $545.49. 345,271 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,456,230. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.79. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $592.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $583.56. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.11 and a 12 month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.69 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

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.