Stephens Begins Coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO)

Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $680.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $648.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $615.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $653.72.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $600.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $609.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $582.66. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a fifty-two week low of $415.60 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $229.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.78.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $5.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.13 by $0.24. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 18.22%. The firm had revenue of $10.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 10.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $617.21, for a total value of $6,172,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,420,473.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CAO Joseph R. Holmes sold 860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.03, for a total value of $525,485.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,108,408.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $617.21, for a total value of $6,172,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,420,473.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,084 shares of company stock worth $14,094,292. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Thermo Fisher Scientific

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rockland Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 30,338 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $18,766,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $286,000. Apella Capital LLC grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 538 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 70.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 622 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 77,816 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $48,135,000 after acquiring an additional 5,076 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.