Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Receives $650.05 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $650.05.

TMO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $532.02 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $530.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $568.68. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 52-week low of $493.30 and a 52-week 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 cap of $203.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program 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 purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth $65,000. 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.