Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on TMO. Stephens started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of TMO stock opened at $545.00 on Monday. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $530.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $568.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $208.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $168,048.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,333,946.08. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. The trade was a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $27,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth about $50,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

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.