Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Given New $647.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $670.00 to $647.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective 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. UBS Group raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $555.91 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $529.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $568.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved 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 buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total value of $5,542,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the business’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 $168,048.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % 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 insiders.

Institutional Trading of Thermo Fisher Scientific

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third 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 buying an additional 127,564 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,705 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,972,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% in the third quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 55,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,868,000 after purchasing an additional 10,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 140,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $87,093,000 after purchasing an additional 8,180 shares during the period. 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.