State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System Boosts Holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 3.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 214,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,158 shares during the quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $17,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at about $663,001,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 570.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,029,897 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $483,024,000 after acquiring an additional 5,981,271 shares during the period. Meritage Group LP boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 5,030,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $345,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815,540 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth approximately $90,682,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,744,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $326,013,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035,634 shares during the period.

TransUnion Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE TRU traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $77.10. 179,965 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,579,948. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. TransUnion has a 1 year low of $42.09 and a 1 year high of $82.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -53.95, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.25.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.12. TransUnion had a positive return on equity of 14.26% and a negative net margin of 7.02%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $977.62 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. TransUnion’s payout ratio is -29.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TransUnion news, CFO Todd M. Cello sold 12,865 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $1,029,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 101,426 shares in the company, valued at $8,114,080. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.00, for a total transaction of $127,872.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,547 shares in the company, valued at $5,151,384. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd M. Cello sold 12,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $1,029,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,114,080. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,761 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,576 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research began coverage on TransUnion in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on TransUnion from $83.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on TransUnion from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised TransUnion from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.73.

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.