Wells Fargo & Company Cuts TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Price Target to $117.00

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $130.00 to $117.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on TRU. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of TransUnion in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.23.

TransUnion Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE:TRU opened at $73.66 on Monday. TransUnion has a one year low of $66.07 and a one year high of $113.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $14.37 billion, a PE ratio of 50.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.46.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.51%.

Insider Activity 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 shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % 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 $372,751. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in TransUnion by 105.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 423 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 454 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000.

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.