Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Stock Price

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $660.00 to $680.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $655.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $541.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $570.96. The stock has a market cap of $228.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. Equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.69 EPS for the current year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.12, for a total transaction of $5,581,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,757,296.96. This represents a 22.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,859,540. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Thermo Fisher Scientific

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 12,797 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the period. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $392,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. now owns 15,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,956,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Key Financial Inc increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 770 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is 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.