Bank of Montreal Can Cuts Stock Holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Bank of Montreal Can decreased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 8.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 768,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 71,433 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $472,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 318.2% during the 2nd quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 54 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TMO. 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 report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. 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 report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total transaction of $4,975,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at $8,076,178.88. This represents a 38.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO traded down $0.77 during trading on Monday, hitting $512.49. 291,462 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,489,974. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $480.57 and a 52-week high of $627.88. The company has a market cap of $196.03 billion, a PE ratio of 32.18, 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 current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $575.70 and a 200 day moving average of $580.20.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.