Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $652.30.

TMO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 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 value of $168,048.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total value of $5,542,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 318.2% in the 2nd quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 116.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 54 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:TMO opened at $526.89 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $550.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $573.72. 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 company has a market cap of $201.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding 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 typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

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

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.