Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Price Target Cut to $647.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $670.00 to $647.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 16.06% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bernstein Bank lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.4 %

TMO stock opened at $557.49 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $529.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $568.13. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.95, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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 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 company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth $332,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at about $93,000. Waycross Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 25,014 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,791 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.6% in the second quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 402 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,740,482 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $962,482,000 after buying an additional 20,075 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.