Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Stock Price

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $650.00 to $570.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 8.65% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on TMO. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.23.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $524.63 on Tuesday. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $548.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $563.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares in the company, valued at $15,984,264.64. This trade represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% in the third 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 last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 40.8% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.5% in the third quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 2,574 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 6.5% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 5,684 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,516,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.