Argent Trust Co Sells 643 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Argent Trust Co trimmed its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,940 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 643 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co's holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $11,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,249,575 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $17,297,426,000 after buying an additional 196,864 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,857,385 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,075,540,000 after purchasing an additional 197,442 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,149,754,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,935,377,000 after buying an additional 262,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,860,847 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,556,689,000 after purchasing an additional 340,263 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 2.0 %

TMO stock traded down $9.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $440.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,286,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,700,090. The company has a market cap of $166.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86. The firm's 50-day moving average is $507.90 and its 200-day moving average is $537.62. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $409.85 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Thermo Fisher Scientific's payout ratio is 10.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on TMO. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $647.43.

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.