Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 10,935 Shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its holdings in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 51,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 10,935 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Thomson Reuters were worth $8,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TRI. &PARTNERS bought a new position in Thomson Reuters in the second quarter worth approximately $278,000. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its position in Thomson Reuters by 87.4% during the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 7,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 3,417 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Thomson Reuters during the third quarter valued at about $4,506,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Thomson Reuters by 547.4% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,355,000 after buying an additional 6,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 87.1% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 505,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $85,136,000 after buying an additional 235,145 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 $162.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Thomson Reuters Co. has a twelve month low of $141.63 and a twelve month high of $176.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $165.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.55. The company has a market cap of $72.98 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.71.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Thomson Reuters in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered Thomson Reuters from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised Thomson Reuters from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.20.

About Thomson Reuters

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.