Eastern Bank Decreases Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Eastern Bank reduced its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 31,703 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 525 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $16,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TMO. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TMO traded up $14.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $556.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,648,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,915,151. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.90 billion, a PE ratio of 34.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $529.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $568.06. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.