Freedom Investment Management Inc. Sells 916 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 21.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,327 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 916 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $2,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 318.2% during 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 last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total transaction of $4,975,740.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,076,178.88. This represents a 38.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 37,150 shares of company stock valued at $20,651,865 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on TMO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bernstein Bank upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $512.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $571.75 and a 200 day moving average of $579.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $480.57 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The company has a market capitalization of $196.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.16, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

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