Castleark Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $931,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TRU. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 84.5% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 286 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 4,590.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 963.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 574 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in TransUnion by 15.0% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 788 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in TransUnion by 156.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 857 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRU opened at $99.67 on Friday. TransUnion has a one year low of $61.46 and a one year high of $113.17. The stock has a market cap of $19.43 billion, a PE ratio of 86.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $103.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 5.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on TRU shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on TransUnion from $103.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on TransUnion from $122.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wolfe Research raised TransUnion from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Seven 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TransUnion news, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,600. The trade was a 30.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $151,095.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 60,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,092,956.24. The trade was a 2.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,590 shares of company stock valued at $2,084,633. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

TransUnion 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.