Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Stock

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) had its target price raised by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $605.00 to $650.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.95% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on TMO. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $658.00.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $580.63 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.13, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $542.95 and its 200-day moving average is $571.55. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 14.78%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 23.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,960,669.92. This represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 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.