Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 20.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 502,083 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,710 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 0.6% of Natixis Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $310,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 830 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. IFG Advisors LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 532 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Finally, Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,031 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on TMO shares. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $680.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of 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. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $513.08 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $464.17 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $586.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $582.24.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.