Employees Retirement System of Texas Trims Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Employees Retirement System of Texas reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,185 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 17,000 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $51,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,627 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,997,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC now owns 799 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $440,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 645 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,667 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.0% in the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 242 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.15, for a total value of $4,561,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 131,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,835,476.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.77, for a total transaction of $1,673,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,792,210.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.15, for a total transaction of $4,561,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 131,175 shares in the company, valued at $59,835,476.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,778,910. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TMO. Barclays dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $585.00 in a research note on Friday, September 29th. KeyCorp cut Thermo Fisher Scientific from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Thursday, September 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $603.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $593.94.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded up $12.12 on Tuesday, reaching $481.15. 755,872 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,563,484. The company has a 50 day moving average of $478.08 and a 200 day moving average of $513.60. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $415.60 and a 52 week high of $609.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.90 billion, a PE ratio of 30.74, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The medical research company reported $5.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.61 by $0.08. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $10.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.17%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the United States 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, clinical next-generation sequencing, bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.