Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 82,841 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,166,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 82,841 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $231,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 17.4% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 2,840,800 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in TransUnion by 307.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427,199 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in TransUnion by 16.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,426,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $463,456,000 after acquiring an additional 635,581 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in TransUnion by 24.1% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,468,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,250,000 after purchasing an additional 674,187 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in TransUnion by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,154,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,251,000 after purchasing an additional 75,410 shares in the last quarter.

TransUnion Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $98.43 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.03. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $63.03 and a 52-week high of $113.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a PE ratio of 85.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.60.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 5.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,600. The trade was a 30.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $151,095.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 60,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,092,956.24. This trade represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,590 shares of company stock worth $2,084,633. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TRU. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Wolfe Research upgraded TransUnion from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.06.

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.