Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. trimmed its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,933 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 708 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $15,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TMO. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.0% during the third quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 1,102 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.3% during the third quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 4,562 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Tower Bridge Advisors increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 25,343 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,677,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total transaction of $4,975,740.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,076,178.88. The trade was a 38.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bernstein Bank increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $513.08 on Monday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $464.17 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The stock has a market cap of $196.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $586.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $582.39. 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 (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

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.