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

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 540,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,726 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for approximately 2.3% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned approximately 0.14% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $334,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 318.2% in the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 54 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TMO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bernstein Bank lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock 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 report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total value of $5,542,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,175,513.68. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $513.26 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $575.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $580.20. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $480.57 and a one year high of $627.88. 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 (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 firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.