Walmart halts H-1B visa offers amid Trump’s $100,000 fee increase - Bloomberg
Investing.com -- Wolters Kluwer (AS:WLSNc) shares rose more than 5% on Thursday after the company said it would complete its €1 billion share buyback program earlier than planned and reaffirmed its 2025 outlook.
The Dutch information services company announced late Wednesday that the repurchase program, originally scheduled to finish at the end of the year, will now be completed by November.
Wolters Kluwer has already bought back €731 million of shares in 2025, with the authorization capped at 10% of issued share capital, according to a press release cited by Kepler Cheuvreux.
Barclays said the move was a “positive sign,” noting the company also provided a trading update confirming performance through August was on track with guidance.
Organic growth in July and August showed a “slight improvement” over the 4.9% recorded in the first half of 2025, with gains led by the Tax, Health and Corporate Performance & ESG divisions.
Wolters Kluwer reiterated the full-year outlook it had set with its half-year results, which called for organic growth to reach about 6% in 2025.
Barclays estimated growth closer to 5.6% but noted the company often sees stronger sales in the fourth quarter, traditionally its busiest period.
The buyback acceleration comes ahead of proceeds expected from the sale of Wolters Kluwer’s Financial Risk and Reporting unit. The company is due to receive about €450 million before the end of 2025, Barclays said.
Kepler Cheuvreux, in research distributed via Macquarie, said the announcement highlighted that business performance across all divisions had been in line with expectations through August.
The brokerage added that organic growth improved in July and August compared with the first half, mainly in Health, Tax & Accounting, and Corporate Performance & ESG.
“Through the month of August performance across all divisions has been in-line with the FY25 outlook provided during H1 2025 results,” Kepler Cheuvreux wrote.
Barclays maintained its “overweight” rating on Wolters Kluwer with a price target of €175, while Kepler Cheuvreux kept a “buy” rating with a target of €183. Both figures compare with a closing price of €109.95 on Sept. 17.
Year-to-date, shares are down 31.5% and have traded between €180.75 and €104.35 over the past 52 weeks.