Essential Planning LLC. Makes New $4.30 Million Investment in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI)

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

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,349 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,821,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters during the fourth quarter worth $874,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 60.7% in the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 462,241 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,698,000 after acquiring an additional 174,546 shares during the period. 17.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on TRI. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Thomson Reuters from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $168.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $165.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thomson Reuters from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.09.

Thomson Reuters Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE TRI opened at $171.02 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.75. The company has a market capitalization of $76.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Thomson Reuters Co. has a 1 year low of $149.50 and a 1 year 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, beating the consensus estimate 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 research analysts predict that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 a positive change from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $2.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.67%.

About Thomson Reuters

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.