Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases 5,200 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,917 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 5,200 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $31,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TMO. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 126.9% during the third quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 59 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 825.0% during the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 74 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $526.56 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $197.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.68, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $588.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $544.22. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $385.46 and a 52 week high of $643.99.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The medical research company reported $6.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.45 by $0.12. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 15.05%.The company had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $583.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $615.00 price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $653.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $633.68.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Frederick M. Lowery sold 6,913 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.68, for a total transaction of $4,131,761.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,586,868.56. This represents a 32.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michel Lagarde sold 32,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $583.39, for a total value of $18,668,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 65,480 shares in the company, valued at $38,200,377.20. This trade represents a 32.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 108,996 shares of company stock worth $63,355,935 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.