In this research, we investigate the informational role of financial analysts. Using a trade-based empirical technique, we estimate the probability of information-based trading for a sample of NYSE stocks that differ in analyst coverage. We determine how this probability differs across stocks followed by many analysts, and we investigate whether analysts increase or create the flow of information. We also determine the `normal' level of noise trading in each sample stock, thereby giving us the ability to assess the depth of the market for stocks with differing analysts followings. Our most important empirical result is that the number of financial analysts is not a good proxy for information-based trading.
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