Ballentine Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Ballentine Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,456 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 804 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $3,879,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $559.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.76. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $529.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $568.56.

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

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.