Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 73.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,566 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,936 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter valued at about $2,264,615,000. Soundwatch Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $807,713,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 93.0% during the second quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 2,727,021 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,105,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314,182 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 282.5% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,323,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $536,450,000 after purchasing an additional 977,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 58.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,293,264 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $929,828,000 after purchasing an additional 843,267 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TMO. Redburn Partners set a $580.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $583.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Argus upped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $625.47.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 2.6%

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $608.00 on Thursday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $385.46 and a 52 week high of $643.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $593.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $535.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $228.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The medical research company reported $6.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.44 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.95 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 16.97%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.43 dividend. 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 has approved a stock buyback plan 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 buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Michel Lagarde sold 32,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owned 65,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,200,377.20. This trade represents a 32.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Lisa P. Britt sold 10,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.62, for a total value of $5,844,814.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 14,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,085,564.90. This represents a 41.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 124,517 shares of company stock worth $72,363,568. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.