Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eighteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $653.23.

TMO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,759,736.32. This trade represents a 25.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Thermo Fisher Scientific

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 54,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,759,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $771,876,000 after buying an additional 225,568 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $804,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC lifted its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 4,562 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.0% in the third quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 1,102 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.1 %

TMO stock opened at $518.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $546.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $555.91. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a fifty-two week low of $493.30 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88. The firm has a market cap of $195.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.41%.

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.