Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

TMO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Argus boosted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. KeyCorp upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $750.00 price target on the stock in a report on Sunday, December 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $583.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $580.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $625.47.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of TMO stock opened at $625.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $234.98 billion, a PE ratio of 36.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $590.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $530.87. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a 1 year low of $385.46 and a 1 year high of $643.99.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $5.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.50 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $11.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 15.02%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Frederick M. Lowery sold 6,913 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.68, for a total transaction of $4,131,761.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at $8,586,868.56. The trade was a 32.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $566.10, for a total transaction of $4,104,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 113,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,400,668.20. This trade represents a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 131,767 shares of company stock valued at $76,467,793 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Thermo Fisher Scientific

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TMO. TIAA Trust National Association grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 123,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $50,256,000 after buying an additional 11,817 shares during the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 8.4% during the second quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA now owns 14,490 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Caledonia Investments PLC increased its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Caledonia Investments PLC now owns 111,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $45,299,000 after acquiring an additional 11,500 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $506,000. Finally, Heritage Investors Management Corp grew its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 56,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $22,944,000 after purchasing an additional 4,971 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) is a global provider of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, software, and services that support research, clinical, and industrial laboratories. The company supplies analytical instruments and laboratory equipment, life sciences reagents and kits, specialty diagnostics, and a broad range of consumables used by researchers, clinicians, and manufacturers. Its offerings also include laboratory information management and data-analysis software, as well as service solutions such as instrument maintenance, validation, and logistics that help customers run complex workflows efficiently.

Thermo Fisher operates through multiple business areas that broadly cover life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services, including contract development and manufacturing for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.