Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. $TMO Shares Sold by AIA Group Ltd

Key Points

• AIA Group cut its Thermo Fisher Scientific stake by 6.4% in the third quarter, selling 6,531 shares and retaining 95,751 shares worth about $64.6 million.
• Analysts have a “Moderate Buy” consensus on TMO, with an average target price of $689.10; ratings include 20 Buy or Strong Buy, four Hold, and one Sell.
• Thermo Fisher beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $6.68 versus $6.40 expected and revenue of $12.14 billion, up 9.1% year over year.

AIA Group Ltd decreased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 6.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,751 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 6,531 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up 0.8% of AIA Group Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $64,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank OZK purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth about $1,096,000. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $456,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $15,501,867,000. German American Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,920,000. Finally, Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter valued at approximately $814,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TMO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $630.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $723.00 to $756.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $689.10.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $698.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $258.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.84. The firm's fifty day moving average is $657.33 and its 200 day moving average is $553.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $435.27 and a 52-week high of $711.85.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $6.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.40 by $0.28. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.94% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The firm had revenue of $12.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.79 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 25.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Michael Shafer sold 25,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $15,300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,596,400. This trade represents a 54.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Joseph Holmes sold 420 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.81, for a total transaction of $245,620.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,734,546.46. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 76,199 shares of company stock valued at $45,896,780 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc is a global supplier of laboratory products, analytical instruments, reagents, consumables, software and services used in scientific research, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and industrial applications. The company serves customers ranging from academic institutions and government agencies to hospitals, clinical laboratories and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Its offerings include instruments and systems for genetic analysis, mass spectrometry, chromatography, electron microscopy and materials science, as well as molecular biology reagents, cell culture products, laboratory plastics and research chemicals.

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