Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

TMO has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of TMO stock traded up $1.97 on Tuesday, hitting $557.49. 2,207,390 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,048,593. The business has a 50-day moving average of $529.85 and a 200 day moving average of $568.13. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.95, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 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.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. The trade was 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 worth $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Thermo Fisher Scientific

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $65,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.