Swedbank AB Acquires 228,475 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,423,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 228,475 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for 0.9% of Swedbank AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.37% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $740,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 76,051.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,416,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $876,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414,556 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,872,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,453 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $254,412,000. Lindsell Train Ltd bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $211,858,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,935,377,000 after acquiring an additional 262,062 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 5,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.89, for a total value of $3,263,656.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,611,804.88. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,850 shares of company stock valued at $19,123,197. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO traded down $11.91 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $572.38. 357,176 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,898,015. The stock has a market cap of $218.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $536.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $570.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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.