Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on TMO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stephens began coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $680.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.05.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO traded up $4.45 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $536.47. 1,981,826 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,771,509. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $205.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average is $530.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $568.53. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.69 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total value of $5,302,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total value of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock valued at $25,954,465. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TMO. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,318,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,100,655,000 after buying an additional 124,996 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 19.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,877,459 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,872,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,453 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,659,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,719,477,000 after purchasing an additional 127,564 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,853,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,935,377,000 after buying an additional 262,062 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,636,558 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,630,896,000 after buying an additional 65,586 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

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.