Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Given New $678.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $647.00 to $678.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

TMO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $605.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bernstein Bank increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $632.00 to $622.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.64.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $598.40 on Friday. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $541.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $570.96. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.76.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. As a group, analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 21.69 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.86, for a total transaction of $4,975,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at $8,076,178.88. This trade represents a 38.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,859,540. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Thermo Fisher Scientific

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 86.2% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 121 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,078,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,409,000. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 7.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 77,816 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $48,135,000 after acquiring an additional 5,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 70.9% in the third quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 622 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.