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

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRU opened at $92.55 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.41. TransUnion has a fifty-two week low of $66.07 and a fifty-two week high of $113.17. The firm has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be 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 is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth $6,915,000. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in TransUnion by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in TransUnion by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 26,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,425,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in TransUnion by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 97,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,061,000 after purchasing an additional 8,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in TransUnion by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,281,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $118,848,000 after purchasing an additional 101,896 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on TRU. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.64.

About TransUnion

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.