Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 141.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,741 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,646 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $5,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of TRU. FMR LLC increased its stake in TransUnion by 307.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427,199 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of TransUnion during the third quarter valued at approximately $92,661,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 16.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,426,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $463,456,000 after buying an additional 635,581 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $476,493,000 after buying an additional 356,306 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,346,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $121,345,000 after buying an additional 294,549 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRU has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, TransUnion currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

TransUnion Trading Up 0.2 %

TransUnion stock opened at $85.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.46. TransUnion has a 12 month low of $66.07 and a 12 month high of $113.17. The company has a market capitalization of $16.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70.

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

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s payout ratio is currently 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In other news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $383,041 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

TransUnion Company 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.