Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Shares Acquired by Prentice Wealth Management LLC

Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TMO. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $667.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $658.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.0 %

TMO opened at $532.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $548.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $567.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. 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 0.32%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.44%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.