Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Grows Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 290,241 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,338 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 0.08% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $140,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. TIAA Trust National Association increased its stake 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 position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,128 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,393,000. Weaver Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $506,000. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 65.5% during the 3rd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 9,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,513,000 after buying an additional 3,683 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TMO. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $615.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $683.00 price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 30th. HSBC upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $750.00 target price for the company in a report on Sunday, December 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $633.68.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $520.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $195.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $574.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $547.46. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $385.46 and a one year high of $643.99.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued 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 $6.45 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.10 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.47 dividend. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.70%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, COO Michel Lagarde sold 22,046 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.56, for a total transaction of $12,424,243.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 84,117 shares in the company, valued at $47,404,976.52. The trade was a 20.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $541.20, for a total value of $216,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,230,982.40. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 98,271 shares of company stock valued at $56,920,935 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.