Thermo Fisher chairman unloads more stock

Thermo Fisher Scientific Chairman Paul Meister has sold off another 275,000 shares of his company for more than $12 million, according to a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The filing – the second within a week – shows that Meister continues to sell off his shares in the company, as part of a prearranged plan set, shortly after Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Electron bought the Hampton, N.H.-based Fisher Scientific in November.

From Jan. 3 to Jan. 8, Meister – who was vice president of the Fisher board — sold 920,000 shares, worth more than $40 million, including some 277,000 shares of exercised options, leaving about 350,000 shares of Fisher Thermo Scientific in his portfolio. Although the prices were at a 52-week high at the time – about $45 a share — Thermo Fisher’s stock price continued to rise, crossing the $47 mark on Wednesday. – BOB SANDERS