National Pension Service Decreases Stock Holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

National Pension Service trimmed its holdings in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 274,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 56,813 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.14% of TransUnion worth $25,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 17.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,840,800 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in TransUnion by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $476,493,000 after purchasing an additional 356,306 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in TransUnion by 307.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427,199 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in TransUnion by 16.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,426,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $463,456,000 after purchasing an additional 635,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 2.4% in 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 buying an additional 75,410 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on TRU shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransUnion has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.64.

TransUnion Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE TRU opened at $92.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.06 billion, a PE ratio of 63.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.63 and a 200 day moving average of $98.46. TransUnion has a 1 year low of $66.07 and a 1 year 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 released 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 firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.115 dividend. This is a positive change 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%.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $151,095.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,092,956.24. This represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,521 shares of company stock worth $534,136. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by 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.