Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 438,842 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 11.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,392,690 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 438,842 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,098,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,175 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,239,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 54.9% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $717,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Senator Investment Group LP bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the first quarter valued at $49,403,000. Brant Point Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Brant Point Investment Management LLC now owns 15,025 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,733,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 24,864 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,451,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE TMO opened at $512.86 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $196.17 billion, a PE ratio of 32.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $579.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $580.98. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $476.45 and a 52 week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.69 EPS. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,134,197.76. This represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on TMO. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.33.

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.