B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Acquires 4,447 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 46.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,447 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $1,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,749,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $625,779,000 after buying an additional 2,323,339 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in TransUnion in the fourth quarter worth about $180,011,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in TransUnion by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,370,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,501,000 after acquiring an additional 789,497 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $476,493,000 after acquiring an additional 356,306 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,346,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $121,345,000 after acquiring an additional 294,549 shares in the last quarter.

TransUnion Price Performance

NYSE TRU opened at $75.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.61, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. TransUnion has a 12 month low of $66.07 and a 12 month high of $113.17. The company’s 50 day moving average is $90.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.51%.

TransUnion announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TransUnion has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In other news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total value of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

TransUnion Profile

TransUnion operates as a global consumer credit reporting agency that provides risk and information solutions. The company operates through U.S. Markets, International, and Consumer Interactive segments. The U.S. Markets segment provides consumer reports, actionable insights, and analytic services to businesses, which uses its services to acquire new customers; assess consumer ability to pay for services; identify cross-selling opportunities; measure and manage debt portfolio risk; collect debt; verify consumer identities; and mitigate fraud risk.