Scotiabank Initiates Coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO)

Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) in a report published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a sector perform rating and a $605.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

TMO has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $525.29 on Monday. 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 capitalization of $200.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average is $543.04 and its 200-day moving average is $572.15. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total value of $5,542,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,175,513.68. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.5% during the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 10,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,071,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Breakwater Capital Group raised its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 577 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 9,730 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,384,000 after buying an additional 2,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.2% during the second quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 252,549 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $139,660,000 after acquiring an additional 5,357 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.