Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $650.05.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,972,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% during the third quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,730,000 after buying an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,868,000 after acquiring an additional 10,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 140,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,093,000 after acquiring an additional 8,180 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $545.00 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $530.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $568.23. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $208.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.17, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.69 EPS. Analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

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.