Stock Repurchase Program Declared by Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Board

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $513.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $196.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a fifty-two week low of $464.17 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $588.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $582.69.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.33.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at $67,175,513.68. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,150 shares of company stock worth $20,651,865. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.