ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Buys New Shares in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired 104,251 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., valued at approximately $51.9 million, making it the fund's 24th largest holding.
• Recent analyst ratings show a shift in sentiment, with multiple firms issuing buy ratings and adjusting target prices, including Stifel Nicolaus lowering its target from $665 to $620.
• Thermo Fisher reported a quarterly earnings per share of $5.36, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, with a yield of 0.4%.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 104,251 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $51,876,000. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises 0.8% of ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $665.00 to $620.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Scotiabank upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $590.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $610.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $570.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $593.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:TMO opened at $466.61 on Wednesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $385.46 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company's 50 day moving average price is $423.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $465.77. The stock has a market cap of $176.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.74.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.22 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $10.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.68 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 16.82%. The company's revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's payout ratio is currently 9.95%.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.98, for a total value of $191,992.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,367 shares in the company, valued at $10,735,712.66. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.

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