Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Sold by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. trimmed its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 529,494 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 10,874 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 1.9% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned approximately 0.14% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $275,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,759,736.32. This represents a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at $59,506,950.58. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on TMO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 2.3 %

TMO opened at $499.75 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $541.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $552.80. The company has a market cap of $188.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.23, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is 10.41%.

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.