Insider Selling: TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Insider Sells 1,000 Shares of Stock

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $83,310.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 77,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,447,610.83. This represents a 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

TransUnion Trading Down 12.1 %

Shares of TRU traded down $10.39 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $75.35. 3,949,258 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,620,197. 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 firm has a market cap of $14.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.61, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $91.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.84. TransUnion has a 12-month low of $66.07 and a 12-month high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion announced that its board has approved a stock 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 buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on TRU shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Monday, March 24th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransUnion currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransUnion

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in TransUnion by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 10,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in TransUnion by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in TransUnion by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter.

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.