Insider Selling: TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) CAO Sells 200 Shares of Stock

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) CAO Jennifer A. Williams sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $19,148.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $687,987.64. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

TransUnion Stock Performance

TransUnion stock opened at $92.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.63 and a 200-day moving average of $98.46. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $66.07 and a 52 week high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for 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%. On average, analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 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 has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on TRU shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransUnion

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,915,000. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 26,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,425,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 97,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,061,000 after acquiring an additional 8,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,281,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $118,848,000 after acquiring an additional 101,896 shares in the last quarter.

About TransUnion

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.