Everence Capital Management Inc. Acquires 730 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 18,519 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up approximately 0.6% of Everence Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $9,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bernstein Bank upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America decreased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE:TMO traded up $5.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $528.35. The stock had a trading volume of 307,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,041,343. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $531.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $568.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.69 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

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 North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, 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, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.