Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 540,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,726 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 2.3% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $334,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 318.2% in the 2nd quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 54 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on TMO shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of 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. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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 $513.26 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $575.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $580.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $480.57 and a 52-week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.69 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total value of $4,975,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,076,178.88. The trade was a 38.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.