Baldwin Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Baldwin Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,760 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 108 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises 0.6% of Baldwin Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Baldwin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $4,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5,688.8% during the 3rd quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,154,000 after buying an additional 6,599 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 54,340 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415 shares in the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 102.1% in the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 764 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.2% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,979,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,507 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,551,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO opened at $512.99 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $571.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $579.18. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $480.57 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.22 billion, a PE ratio of 32.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 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 posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.69 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on TMO shares. Stephens started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Bernstein Bank upped their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. This trade represents a 7.62 % 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 valued at $20,651,865 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific 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.