Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Price Target Raised to $680.00

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) had its price objective raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $660.00 to $680.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lowered 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 research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $598.40 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 12-month low of $493.30 and a 12-month high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $541.37 and its 200-day moving average is $571.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.12, for a total value of $5,581,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,757,296.96. The trade was a 22.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,859,540. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Thermo Fisher Scientific

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently 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.