Trustmark National Bank Trust Department Cuts Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Trustmark National Bank Trust Department decreased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 10.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 839 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.1% in the second quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 830 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 532 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,031 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $570,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.9% during the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,123 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.0% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,886 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,043,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their target price 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. Stephens started coverage on 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.33.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO stock opened at $515.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $480.57 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $577.66 and a 200-day moving average of $580.52. 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 (NYSE:TMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.