Essential Planning LLC. Makes New Investment in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI)

Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 25,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRI. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Thomson Reuters during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 361 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. 17.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Thomson Reuters Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE TRI opened at $171.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.97, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $169.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.75. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.04. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 14.62% and a net margin of 30.45%. Sell-side analysts expect that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.595 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $2.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. This is a positive change from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on TRI. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Thomson Reuters from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Thomson Reuters from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Thomson Reuters from $168.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Thomson Reuters from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $182.09.

Thomson Reuters Company 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.