Prentice Wealth Management LLC Buys 70 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on TMO shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock worth $11,231,699 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $532.55 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $548.47 and its 200 day moving average is $567.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $203.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.22, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week high of $627.88.

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 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.44%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.