DnB Asset Management AS Has $3.52 Million Stock Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

DnB Asset Management AS trimmed its holdings in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 650 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $3,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in TransUnion during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in TransUnion by 4,590.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the 4th quarter worth $51,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut 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 cut their price target on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $93,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. The trade was a 1.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $383,041. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

TransUnion Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE TRU opened at $83.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $91.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.03. 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). The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.