Fred Alger Management LLC Buys 26,229 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 52.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,229 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $8,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of TransUnion by 923.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 32,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,430,000 after acquiring an additional 29,560 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of TransUnion during the third quarter worth $892,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the 3rd quarter valued at $236,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 97.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 15,659 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,627,000 after purchasing an additional 7,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PEAK6 Investments LLC increased its position in TransUnion by 469.6% during the 3rd quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 142,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,901,000 after buying an additional 117,333 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TRU. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of TransUnion from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer cut their target price on TransUnion from $122.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on TransUnion from $103.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransUnion presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.38.

TransUnion Price Performance

NYSE:TRU opened at $101.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a PE ratio of 88.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.62. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $57.80 and a 52 week high of $113.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $103.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.50.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 5.47%. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.65, for a total transaction of $95,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 64,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,168,277.20. This represents a 1.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $1,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,600. This represents a 30.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,500 shares of company stock worth $1,954,740. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.