Insider Selling: TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Insider Sells $77,740.00 in Stock

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) insider Steven Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total transaction of $77,740.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 77,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,055,013.12. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

TransUnion Price Performance

NYSE:TRU traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $78.64. The company had a trading volume of 3,331,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,600,032. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $60.96 and a 52-week high of $89.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $74.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.23. The company has a market capitalization of $15.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.04. TransUnion had a return on equity of 16.51% and a net margin of 15.83%. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that TransUnion will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.1350 per share. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1250. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on TransUnion from $106.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of TransUnion from $77.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $85.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $99.00 price objective on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.69.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in TransUnion during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,367,560,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransUnion in the second quarter valued at about $280,292,000. Meritage Group LP bought a new position in shares of TransUnion during the second quarter valued at about $263,751,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of TransUnion by 8.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,740,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $258,794,000 after acquiring an additional 293,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 20.6% during the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,044,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $247,190,000 after purchasing an additional 689,649 shares during the period.

About TransUnion

TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) is a global information and insights company that helps businesses and consumers make more informed decisions. The company collects, analyzes and delivers data related to credit, identity, fraud and consumer behavior, serving customers across financial services, insurance, healthcare, retail, telecommunications and other industries.

Its products and services include consumer credit reports and scores, credit-risk assessment, marketing and audience insights, identity verification, fraud detection, investigative tools and decisioning software.