Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Upgraded at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $630.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on TMO. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $656.00 to $686.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.52.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of TMO stock opened at $542.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $529.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $568.06. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year 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 $207.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.69 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at $7,134,197.76. The trade was a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at $65,000. 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.