Prudential Financial Inc. Buys 248,225 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 2,390.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 258,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 248,225 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of TransUnion worth $24,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TRU. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position 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 during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRU has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer cut their price target 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.08.

TransUnion Trading Down 2.2 %

TRU opened at $85.71 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $92.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.70, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. TransUnion has a fifty-two week low of $66.07 and a fifty-two week high of $113.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, research analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.115 dividend. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s payout ratio is currently 31.51%.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041. 0.22% of the stock is currently 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.