Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Relx Plc (NYSE:RELX)

Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Relx Plc (NYSE:RELX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 13,713 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $623,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of RELX. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Relx by 368.7% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,807,038 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $127,437,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208,119 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Relx in the fourth quarter worth $44,516,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Relx by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,191,588 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $99,542,000 after purchasing an additional 745,532 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Relx by 290.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 886,758 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,277,000 after purchasing an additional 659,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Relx by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,968,739 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $89,420,000 after purchasing an additional 658,655 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RELX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Relx in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Relx in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com lowered Relx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays raised Relx from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Relx presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Relx Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of RELX opened at $53.02 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. Relx Plc has a 12-month low of $43.28 and a 12-month high of $55.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.80.

Relx Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.5586 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This is an increase from Relx’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.23. Relx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.68%.

Relx Profile

RELX Plc engages in provision of information and analytics solutions for professional and business customers across industries. It operates through the following business segments: Scientific, Technical & Medical; Risk & Business Analytics; Legal; and Exhibitions. The Scientific, Technical & Medical segment is a global information analytics business that helps institutions and professionals advance healthcare, open science, and improve performance for the benefit of humanity.