Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 19.3% during the fourth 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 1.02% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $2,037,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 22.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,247,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $771,876,000 after purchasing an additional 225,568 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,274,000. Tradition Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 783 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TMO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada set a $693.00 target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $647.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.23.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 3,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.52, for a total value of $2,010,263.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,759,736.32. The trade was a 25.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.67, for a total value of $5,166,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,174 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 23,900 shares of company stock worth $13,106,062 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $499.75 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $188.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.23, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.79. 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 1 year low of $493.30 and a 1 year high of $627.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $541.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $551.84.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.41%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

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.