Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 7,600 Shares of Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Thomson Reuters Co. (NYSE:TRI) (TSE:TRI) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,600 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Thomson Reuters were worth $3,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TRI. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Thomson Reuters by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 832 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Thomson Reuters in the 3rd quarter worth $155,000. Institutional investors own 17.31% of the company’s stock.

Thomson Reuters Stock Performance

NYSE:TRI opened at $175.82 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.38. The company has a market cap of $79.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.04. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 14.62%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.595 dividend. This represents a $2.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from Thomson Reuters’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Thomson Reuters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Thomson Reuters from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Thomson Reuters from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $165.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $182.09.

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.