Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Sells 479 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC lessened its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,946 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 479 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises about 1.2% of Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $8,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BDF Gestion bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,368,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 140,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,093,000 after purchasing an additional 8,180 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,518,000 after purchasing an additional 5,546 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 5,378 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 60.2% during the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 8,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,087,000 after acquiring an additional 3,090 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on TMO shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total value of $4,975,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,076,178.88. The trade was a 38.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $514.05 on Tuesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $480.57 and a one year high of $627.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $573.70 and its 200 day moving average is $579.75. The stock has a market cap of $196.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.69 EPS. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

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.