Ballentine Partners LLC Sells 804 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,100,655,000 after acquiring an additional 124,996 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,935,377,000 after buying an additional 262,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,630,896,000 after buying an additional 65,586 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. This trade 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on TMO shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of 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. Stephens started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $559.72 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.09 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $529.96 and a 200-day moving average of $568.56. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its 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. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. 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.