Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Cuts Stake in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI)

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. reduced its position in shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 33,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,889 shares during the quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s holdings in Thomson Reuters were worth $5,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in shares of Thomson Reuters by 125.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 234 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters in the third quarter worth $42,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters during the third quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 104.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 17.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TRI shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Thomson Reuters from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated 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 on the stock. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Thomson Reuters from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.10.

Thomson Reuters Price Performance

NYSE TRI opened at $166.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $162.82 and its 200 day moving average is $165.14. The company has a market capitalization of $74.75 billion, a PE ratio of 32.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.72. Thomson Reuters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $148.16 and a fifty-two week high of $176.03.

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

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.52%.

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.