16,416 Shares in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO Acquired by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 16,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,962,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. TIAA Trust National Association increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 123,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $50,256,000 after acquiring an additional 11,817 shares during the period. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA now owns 14,490 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Caledonia Investments PLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.5% in the second quarter. Caledonia Investments PLC now owns 111,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $45,299,000 after purchasing an additional 11,500 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth approximately $506,000. Finally, Heritage Investors Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.6% in the second quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 56,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $22,944,000 after purchasing an additional 4,971 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Redburn Partners set a $580.00 price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $583.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $625.47.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 2.8%

NYSE:TMO opened at $636.26 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $239.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $588.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $528.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.50. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $385.46 and a 52 week high of $637.98.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $5.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.50 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 6th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Michael D. Shafer sold 10,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $6,435,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,238,600. This represents a 36.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michel Lagarde sold 32,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $583.39, for a total transaction of $18,668,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 65,480 shares in the company, valued at $38,200,377.20. The trade was a 32.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 149,271 shares of company stock valued at $86,507,282. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) is a global provider of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, software, and services that support research, clinical, and industrial laboratories. The company supplies analytical instruments and laboratory equipment, life sciences reagents and kits, specialty diagnostics, and a broad range of consumables used by researchers, clinicians, and manufacturers. Its offerings also include laboratory information management and data-analysis software, as well as service solutions such as instrument maintenance, validation, and logistics that help customers run complex workflows efficiently.

Thermo Fisher operates through multiple business areas that broadly cover life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services, including contract development and manufacturing for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.