Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $660.00 to $680.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price objective on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $655.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE TMO opened at $598.40 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $228.89 billion, a PE ratio of 37.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $541.37 and its 200 day moving average is $570.96.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%. Research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.69 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 issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 29,000 shares of company stock worth $15,859,540 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 76,051.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,416,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $876,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $254,412,000. Lindsell Train Ltd bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $211,858,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,935,377,000 after acquiring an additional 262,062 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.