Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Trims Position in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its position in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI - Free Report) TSE: TRI by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 456,745 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 27,665 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.10% of Thomson Reuters worth $73,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,153,240 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $185,011,000 after purchasing an additional 395,481 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,546 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Thomson Reuters by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $958,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TRI shares. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Thomson Reuters in a report on Thursday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Thomson Reuters from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Thomson Reuters from $187.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Thomson Reuters from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Nine 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 a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $177.80.

Thomson Reuters Price Performance

Shares of TRI stock traded down $3.77 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $166.29. 204,649 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 386,761. Thomson Reuters Co. has a 12-month low of $149.50 and a 12-month high of $180.42. The company has a market capitalization of $74.85 billion, a PE ratio of 34.07, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.70. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $173.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.82. 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 - Get Free Report) TSE: TRI last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.04. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 14.62%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.595 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $2.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Thomson Reuters's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Thomson Reuters's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.67%.

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.