Principal Securities Inc. Boosts Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,058 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE TMO opened at $532.58 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $203.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $548.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $570.21. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.