TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Shares Down 2.7% – Here’s Why

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) shares dropped 2.7% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $103.35 and last traded at $103.66. Approximately 193,581 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 1,592,726 shares. The stock had previously closed at $106.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TRU. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on TransUnion from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price objective on TransUnion from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on TransUnion from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $85.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.44.

TransUnion Trading Down 1.8 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $20.33 billion, a PE ratio of -73.22, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.62.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. TransUnion had a positive return on equity of 15.03% and a negative net margin of 6.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is currently -29.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other news, CAO Jennifer A. Williams sold 405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.58, for a total value of $38,709.90. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,837.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Jennifer A. Williams sold 405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.58, for a total value of $38,709.90. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,186 shares in the company, valued at $686,837.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd M. Cello sold 12,865 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $1,029,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 101,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,114,080. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,580 shares of company stock worth $2,328,929. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in TransUnion by 32.2% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,339,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,211,757,000 after buying an additional 3,977,595 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,755,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $539,108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306,596 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management raised its holdings in TransUnion by 104,813.6% in the 1st quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 1,947,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $153,454,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945,340 shares during the period. XN LP raised its holdings in TransUnion by 194.7% in the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 1,973,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $146,368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,996 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in TransUnion by 37.4% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,566,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $190,363,000 after purchasing an additional 698,580 shares in the last quarter.

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.