Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.16 EPS

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16, Zacks reports. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 17.49%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 6.6 %

Shares of NYSE:TMO traded up $37.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $605.56. 1,382,071 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,004,365. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $231.63 billion, a PE ratio of 38.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $537.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $570.33. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a twelve month low of $493.30 and a twelve month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.78%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.95.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.12, for a total value of $5,581,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,608 shares in the company, valued at $18,757,296.96. The trade was a 22.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,850 shares of company stock worth $19,123,197. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.