Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $649.33.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 3.7 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $513.08 on Wednesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a one year low of $464.17 and a one year high of $627.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $586.43 and its 200 day moving average is $582.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.25 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.67 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total value of $4,975,740.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,076,178.88. This represents a 38.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Thermo Fisher Scientific

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,095,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,235,605,000 after acquiring an additional 117,353 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,100,655,000 after buying an additional 124,996 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,493,852 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,842,762,000 after buying an additional 1,231,059 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,054,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,843,848,000 after acquiring an additional 156,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,113,137 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,715,436,000 after acquiring an additional 123,523 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company 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.