American Century Companies Inc. Buys 170,888 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 166.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 273,615 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 170,888 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $132,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 126.9% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 825.0% during the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 74 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 35.1% during the third quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 77 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $520.80 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $574.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $548.38. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $385.46 and a 12 month high of $643.99. The company has a market cap of $193.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.96.

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 firm had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. 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. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 9.70%.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Frederick M. Lowery sold 6,912 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $581.94, for a total value of $4,022,369.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,360,731.98. This trade represents a 32.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michel Lagarde sold 22,046 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.56, for a total value of $12,424,243.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 84,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,404,976.52. The trade was a 20.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 91,358 shares of company stock worth $52,789,173. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on TMO shares. Wall Street Zen raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. TD Cowen cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $696.00 to $683.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $685.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $583.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $633.68.

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.