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

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on TMO. Bank of America cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI cut 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $551.64 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $529.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $568.13. The firm has a market cap of $211.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 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. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized 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 purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

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.