Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,728,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,750 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 1.40% of TransUnion worth $252,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRU. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in TransUnion by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,180,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,008,205,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840,800 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in TransUnion by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $476,493,000 after purchasing an additional 356,306 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in TransUnion by 307.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in TransUnion by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,426,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $463,456,000 after purchasing an additional 635,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in TransUnion by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,154,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,251,000 after purchasing an additional 75,410 shares during the last quarter.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $88.02 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.56. TransUnion has a 12 month low of $66.07 and a 12 month high of $113.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.29, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). The company 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%. As a group, analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders 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 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.51%.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $93,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. This represents a 1.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock worth $383,041 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on TRU. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.64.

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.