Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Upgraded to Outperform at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $630.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on TMO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on 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. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.52.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $542.97 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $207.69 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $529.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $568.06.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued 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. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total transaction of $5,542,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,175,513.68. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,100,655,000 after purchasing an additional 124,996 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,935,377,000 after buying an additional 262,062 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,630,896,000 after buying an additional 65,586 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.