Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Sells 103,842 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 57.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,918 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 103,842 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $47,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wahed Invest LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.0% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 9,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,676,000 after buying an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 514,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $317,945,000 after buying an additional 135,300 shares in the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 1,071,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $662,600,000 after buying an additional 2,813 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.6% during the third quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 802 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,100,655,000 after acquiring an additional 124,996 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

TMO opened at $520.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $199.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $559.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $576.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $488.02 and a 52-week high of $627.88.

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

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on TMO shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays cut 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bernstein Bank increased their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.33.

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.