iA Global Asset Management Inc. Purchases 92,871 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 61.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 242,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 92,871 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for 1.6% of iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. iA Global Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $117,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TIAA Trust National Association increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 11,817 shares in the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.4% in the second quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA now owns 14,490 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Caledonia Investments PLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.5% during 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 purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $506,000. Finally, Heritage Investors Management Corp grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.6% in the 2nd 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 during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $685.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $635.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $625.47.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 0.4%

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $639.03 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $385.46 and a 12-month high of $643.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $240.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $589.96 and a 200 day moving average of $529.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $5.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.50 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $566.10, for a total value of $4,104,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 113,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,400,668.20. This represents a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Lisa P. Britt sold 10,225 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.62, for a total value of $5,844,814.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 14,145 shares in the company, valued at $8,085,564.90. This trade represents a 41.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 131,767 shares of company stock valued at $76,467,793. 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.