Raymond James Financial Inc. Cuts Stake in Thomson Reuters Co. $TRI

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Thomson Reuters Co. by 18.1%, holding 57,653 shares worth $9.96 million after selling 12,713 shares in the first quarter.
• Thomson Reuters reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.87, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.595, representing a dividend yield of 1.3%, to be paid on September 10th.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lessened its position in shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI - Free Report) TSE: TRI by 18.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,653 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 12,713 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc.'s holdings in Thomson Reuters were worth $9,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRI. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Thomson Reuters during the 4th quarter worth approximately $448,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 218,090 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,979,000 after acquiring an additional 5,446 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 202,554 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,486,000 after acquiring an additional 68,314 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 68.6% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 18,211 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,921,000 after acquiring an additional 7,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,208 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. National Bankshares reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Thomson Reuters in a report on Thursday, July 10th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Thomson Reuters from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $285.00 in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Thomson Reuters from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $188.00 to $200.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. CIBC upgraded shares of Thomson Reuters from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $213.00 to $187.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Thomson Reuters currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.90.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

NYSE:TRI traded up $1.37 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $178.87. 279,011 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 891,255. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $191.36 and a 200 day moving average of $185.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Thomson Reuters Co. has a 1-year low of $151.60 and a 1-year high of $218.42.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI - Get Free Report) TSE: TRI last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.79 billion. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 14.62%. Thomson Reuters's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.595 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Thomson Reuters's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.75%.

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.