Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,655 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 78 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 2.9% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $19,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TMO. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,872,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,453 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 65,586 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 32.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during 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 buying an additional 61,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,740,482 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $962,482,000 after acquiring an additional 20,075 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $514.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $573.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $579.75. 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 has a market capitalization of $196.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $480.57 and a 52 week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TMO. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total value of $4,975,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,076,178.88. This represents a 38.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’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 $168,048.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,150 shares of company stock valued at $20,651,865. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.