TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) EVP Sells $174,342.54 in Stock

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TRU stock opened at $91.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $66.07 and a 52 week high of $113.17. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $94.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.46. The company has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. On average, analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s payout ratio is currently 31.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransUnion

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRU. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,540,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,811,566,000 after buying an additional 359,569 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in TransUnion by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,657 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,674,960,000 after acquiring an additional 241,019 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in TransUnion by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,749,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $625,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,339 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in TransUnion by 7.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 356,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,044,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $467,709,000 after purchasing an additional 503,969 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

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.