Franklin Resources Inc. Has $2.04 Billion Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO - Free Report) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,916,575 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 936,558 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 1.02% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $2,037,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $667.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $653.23.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total transaction of $5,166,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,506,950.58. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $13,106,062. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 3.9 %

NYSE:TMO traded down $19.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $469.88. The company had a trading volume of 2,809,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,631,015. The firm has a market cap of $177.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. The business's fifty day moving average is $536.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $549.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.66. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $468.39 and a fifty-two week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.41%.

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.