The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $32.63 Million Stock Holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 3,274.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 351,960 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 341,531 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $32,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of TRU. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 10,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $956,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TRU stock opened at $83.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.34 billion, a PE ratio of 57.34, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.42. 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 has a one year low of $66.38 and a one year high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.07. TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.47%.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on TRU shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total value of $95,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at $5,611,923.60. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.