Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,364 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,364 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $1,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TRU. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 307.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $475,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427,199 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 17.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,180,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,008,205,000 after acquiring an additional 2,840,800 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of TransUnion in the third quarter valued at approximately $92,661,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 16.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 635,581 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 356,306 shares during the period.

TransUnion Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of TRU opened at $92.55 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.39, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. 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 fifty-two week low of $66.07 and a fifty-two week high of $113.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $94.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.53.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on TRU. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $93,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,568,076.80. The trade was a 1.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company 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.