Avanza Fonder AB Purchases Shares of 8,676 Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI - Free Report) TSE: TRI during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 8,676 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,391,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Thomson Reuters by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 183,605 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $30,954,000 after acquiring an additional 9,571 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 15.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,966 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 3.0% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,286 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Thomson Reuters by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,207 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Thomson Reuters during the 2nd quarter valued at about $303,000. 17.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Thomson Reuters Trading Up 0.8 %

TRI stock traded up $1.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $159.37. 206,689 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 177,189. Thomson Reuters Co. has a 52-week low of $148.08 and a 52-week high of $176.03. The stock's fifty day moving average is $163.04 and its 200-day moving average is $165.35. The company has a market cap of $71.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI - Get Free Report) TSE: TRI last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 32.12% and a return on equity of 14.85%. The company's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.54 dividend. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Thomson Reuters's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TRI. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thomson Reuters from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Thomson Reuters from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. CIBC boosted their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Thomson Reuters in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.