Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lessened its position in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 435,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 32,110 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Thomson Reuters were worth $63,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 134.9% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 195 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 162.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 241 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

Shares of TRI opened at $150.84 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $156.04 and its 200-day moving average is $144.12. Thomson Reuters Co. has a 12 month low of $117.46 and a 12 month high of $161.57. The firm has a market cap of $68.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.06. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 39.67% and a return on equity of 14.01%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. Thomson Reuters’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on TRI. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $142.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $153.00 target price on shares of Thomson Reuters in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform under weight” rating to an “underperform underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Thomson Reuters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.42.

Thomson Reuters 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.