Sentry Investment Management LLC Purchases 718 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Sentry Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 32.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,959 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the quarter. Thermo Fisher Scientific accounts for approximately 0.7% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,816 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $964,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. London & Capital Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. London & Capital Asset Management Ltd now owns 69,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,000,000 after acquiring an additional 4,506 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 2,108 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $555.63, for a total transaction of $5,556,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,155 shares in the company, valued at $27,311,992.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $555.63, for a total value of $5,556,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,155 shares in the company, valued at $27,311,992.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 14,566 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.00, for a total value of $8,186,092.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,250,362. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,277 shares of company stock worth $28,513,384. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO traded down $8.22 on Monday, hitting $557.01. 540,438 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,539,491. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $415.60 and a 12 month high of $603.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $571.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $526.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.64 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $10.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TMO. Barclays downgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $475.00 to $555.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. HSBC assumed coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price target for the company. Raymond James upped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $515.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. TheStreet upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $620.00 price target for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $601.56.

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.