Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Hits New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $484.27 and last traded at $498.05, with a volume of 2915798 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $500.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped 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 note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $540.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $551.02. The stock has a market cap of $187.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced 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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $3,149,754,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,083,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,604,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,444 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1,905.4% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 903,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $469,889,000 after buying an additional 858,193 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 68,617.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 762,759 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,810,000 after buying an additional 761,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth approximately $377,901,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

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.