Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,950,000 shares, an increase of 14.2% from the January 15th total of 3,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,050,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $532.58. 1,517,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,047,114. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $548.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $569.90. The stock has a market cap of $203.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.22, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.77. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.