Aviva PLC Buys 88,782 Shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI)

Aviva PLC grew its position in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) by 1,608.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 94,302 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 88,782 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Thomson Reuters were worth $15,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its position in Thomson Reuters by 141.4% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 22,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,641,000 after purchasing an additional 13,298 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,333 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 71,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,525,000 after buying an additional 3,161 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 74.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,315,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $214,236,000 after buying an additional 560,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Thomson Reuters by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 62,399 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,007,000 after acquiring an additional 10,591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

Shares of TRI stock opened at $162.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $173.26 and a 200-day moving average of $167.91. The company has a market cap of $73.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.70. 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 52 week low of $149.50 and a 52 week high of $180.42.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.595 per share. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio is 48.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Thomson Reuters from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Thomson Reuters from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Thomson Reuters from $187.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Thomson Reuters from $168.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Thomson Reuters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.56.

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.