Shell Asset Management Co. Sells 23,383 Shares of Thomson Reuters Co. $TRI

Shell Asset Management Co. lowered its holdings in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) by 55.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 23,383 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Thomson Reuters were worth $2,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the third quarter valued at about $12,737,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Thomson Reuters by 3.7% in the third quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 133,790 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,779,000 after purchasing an additional 4,748 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 8.7% during the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 63,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,933,000 after buying an additional 5,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter valued at about $478,000. 17.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Thomson Reuters Stock Up 1.2%

Thomson Reuters stock opened at $86.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Thomson Reuters Co. has a 12-month low of $84.27 and a 12-month high of $218.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $120.32 and its 200 day moving average is $146.08. The company has a market capitalization of $38.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.79.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.62% and a net margin of 30.45%.The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. Thomson Reuters’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.655 dividend. This represents a $2.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on TRI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets set a $165.00 price target on Thomson Reuters in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down from $189.00) on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research note on Friday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $111.00 price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Huber Research raised Thomson Reuters to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thomson Reuters has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.42.

About Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI) is a multinational information and media company that provides content, technology and services to professionals in the legal, tax & accounting, compliance, risk, corporate and media sectors. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, the company combines news and editorial content from the Reuters news agency with specialist workflow platforms and databases designed to support decision-making and regulatory compliance across industries worldwide.

The company’s product portfolio spans legal research and workflow tools, tax and accounting software, regulatory and risk management solutions, and real-time news and data services.