First Trust Advisors LP Buys 814,393 Shares of Thomson Reuters Co. $TRI

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) by 312.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,074,988 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 814,393 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Thomson Reuters were worth $166,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TRI. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in Thomson Reuters during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 338 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Thomson Reuters during the third quarter worth $57,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Thomson Reuters by 30.9% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 17.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $140.00 target price on shares of Thomson Reuters and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $160.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets set a $165.00 price objective on Thomson Reuters in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thomson Reuters presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.42.

Thomson Reuters Trading Up 1.8%

TRI opened at $111.46 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $109.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.80. Thomson Reuters Co. has a 1-year low of $79.71 and a 1-year high of $218.42. The company has a market cap of $49.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.655 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.68%.

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.