Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 345 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 345 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in TransUnion by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 10,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in TransUnion by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in TransUnion by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TRU shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

TransUnion Price Performance

TRU stock opened at $85.41 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.50, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $92.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $66.07 and a 52-week high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.