M&T Bank Corp Boosts Stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,531 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,232 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $3,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of TRU. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 32.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,339,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,211,757,000 after acquiring an additional 3,977,595 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in TransUnion by 307.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $475,432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427,199 shares during the period. XN LP boosted its holdings in TransUnion by 194.7% in the second quarter. XN LP now owns 1,973,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $146,368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,996 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in TransUnion in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $92,661,000. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in TransUnion by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,566,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $190,363,000 after buying an additional 698,580 shares during the last quarter.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $98.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.59, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.60. 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 simple moving average is $102.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.92. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $63.03 and a 52 week high of $113.17.

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

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.59, for a total transaction of $261,475.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,888,432.01. This represents a 5.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.66, for a total transaction of $158,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 62,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,655,312.08. This trade represents a 2.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,590 shares of company stock valued at $2,084,633. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRU has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on TransUnion from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of TransUnion from $104.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransUnion currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.06.

TransUnion 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.