Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seventeen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $607.43.

TMO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $665.00 to $620.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $605.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $475.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $603.00 to $573.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.3%

TMO stock traded down $1.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $402.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,521,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,878,887. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a twelve month low of $390.50 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.34, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company's fifty day moving average price is $430.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $499.77.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.10 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.23 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. The business's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's payout ratio is presently 10.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total transaction of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,075 shares of company stock worth $7,305,942 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Thermo Fisher Scientific

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 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.