Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Holdings in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) by 26.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Thomson Reuters were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 125.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 234 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 104.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Thomson Reuters by 67.6% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

Thomson Reuters stock opened at $163.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $73.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.72. Thomson Reuters Co. has a 12 month low of $148.16 and a 12 month high of $176.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $162.62 and its 200-day moving average is $165.20.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.85% and a net margin of 32.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Thomson Reuters’s payout ratio is currently 42.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on TRI. StockNews.com upgraded Thomson Reuters from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Thomson Reuters from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, CIBC raised their target price on Thomson Reuters from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.10.

Thomson Reuters Company Profile

Thomson Reuters Corporation engages in the provision of business information services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax & Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Legal Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on legal research and integrated legal workflow solutions that combine content, tools, and analytics to law firms and governments.