Argent Trust Co Buys 551 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Argent Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $12,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 318.2% in 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 period. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1,275.0% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 55 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 54 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CAO Joseph R. Holmes sold 860 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.03, for a total transaction of $525,485.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,108,408.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CAO Joseph R. Holmes sold 860 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.03, for a total value of $525,485.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,108,408.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 6,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.09, for a total transaction of $3,793,167.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at $74,548,375.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,084 shares of company stock worth $14,094,292. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on TMO. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $615.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Raymond James upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $615.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $615.00 to $600.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $670.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $632.89.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.6 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $610.26 on Wednesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $415.60 and a 52 week high of $627.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $595.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $580.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $232.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.78.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $5.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.13 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $10.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.50 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 18.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.72 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.01%.

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.