Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Price Target Raised to $678.00

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $647.00 to $678.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on TMO. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE TMO opened at $598.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $541.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $571.07. The stock has a market cap of $228.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total transaction of $4,975,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,076,178.88. This trade represents a 38.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,859,540 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 12,797 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 753 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. now owns 15,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,956,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 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.