Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Raised to “Outperform” at Sanford C. Bernstein

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) was upgraded by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $630.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s target price indicates a potential upside of 16.03% from the stock’s current price.

TMO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. 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. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.52.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of TMO stock opened at $542.97 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $529.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $567.99. 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 $207.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.04, 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.69 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at $9,333,946.08. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Thermo Fisher Scientific

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TMO. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 127,564 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 995 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 20,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in 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 worth $28,868,000 after purchasing an additional 10,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.2% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 140,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $87,093,000 after buying an additional 8,180 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% 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.