Brokerages Set Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Target Price at $653.23

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $653.23.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. This represents a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Thermo Fisher Scientific

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,759,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,876,000 after buying an additional 225,568 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 75.3% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $804,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.3% in the third quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 4,562 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,822,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.0% in the third quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 1,102 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE:TMO opened at $520.25 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $545.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $554.91. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 23.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.41%.

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.