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

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. decreased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,368,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 140,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $87,093,000 after acquiring an additional 8,180 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,161,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 67.4% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,518,000 after buying an additional 5,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 216.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $890,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,175,513.68. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $513.08 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $464.17 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $586.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $582.39. 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.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.