TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service trimmed its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 274,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 56,813 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $25,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in TransUnion by 17.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,180,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,008,205,000 after buying an additional 2,840,800 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 2.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,154,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,251,000 after purchasing an additional 75,410 shares during the period.

TransUnion Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $92.55 on Friday. TransUnion has a 12-month low of $66.07 and a 12-month high of $113.17. The stock has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business’s 50 day moving average is $94.63 and its 200-day moving average is $98.46.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Equities research analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TransUnion news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 59,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. This represents a 1.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,521 shares of company stock worth $534,136 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.64.

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.