Bessemer Securities LLC Sells 1,775 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Bessemer Securities LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 53.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,775 shares during the period. Bessemer Securities LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.7% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 681,679 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $392,899,000 after purchasing an additional 24,376 shares during the last quarter. American Trust grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. American Trust now owns 6,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,074,000. Alta Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.1% in the second quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC now owns 88,286 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,064,000 after purchasing an additional 4,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 724,844 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $417,779,000 after purchasing an additional 72,792 shares during the period. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

TMO stock traded up $4.35 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $470.77. The stock had a trading volume of 147,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,562,308. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $479.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $514.14. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $415.60 and a 52-week high of $609.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $181.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.81.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The medical research company reported $5.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.61 by $0.08. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The company had revenue of $10.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.08 EPS. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.17%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 14th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to repurchase up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TheStreet downgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Thursday, September 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $603.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Citigroup cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $664.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.77, for a total value of $1,673,310.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,556 shares in the company, valued at $9,792,210.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.77, for a total value of $1,673,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,792,210.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Monday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.41, for a total transaction of $4,544,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 131,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,607,231.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,778,910. Company insiders own 0.32% 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 United States 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, clinical next-generation sequencing, bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.