Fred Alger Management LLC Takes Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,274,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 318.2% during the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% in the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 54 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on TMO shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of 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. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective 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 research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.33.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $529.63 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $566.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $577.69. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a twelve month low of $487.06 and a twelve 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, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders 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 is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.78%.

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

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.