Milestone Resources Group Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Milestone Resources Group Ltd reduced its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 219,464 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 525 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises 4.7% of Milestone Resources Group Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Milestone Resources Group Ltd’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $135,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 147.2% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 208,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $128,758,000 after purchasing an additional 123,952 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $16,393,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 3,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,939,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 796.0% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 224 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,935,377,000 after purchasing an additional 262,062 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related 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 transaction 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,175,513.68. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TMO. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO traded down $2.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $522.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 181,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,533,789. The company has a 50-day moving average of $551.83 and a 200-day moving average of $574.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $199.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.77. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The company 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%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 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.