TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) EVP Venkat Achanta Sells 1,821 Shares of Stock

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) 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 value of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

TransUnion Trading Down 3.4 %

TransUnion stock opened at $91.74 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 62.83, 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 52 week low of $66.07 and a 52 week high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

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

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TRU shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.64.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in TransUnion by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,540,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,811,566,000 after purchasing an additional 359,569 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,657 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,674,960,000 after buying an additional 241,019 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,749,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $625,779,000 after buying an additional 2,323,339 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in TransUnion by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $476,493,000 after buying an additional 356,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in TransUnion by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,044,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $467,709,000 after acquiring an additional 503,969 shares during 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.