138,185 Shares in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Acquired by Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 138,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,811,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in TransUnion by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 700,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $64,945,000 after purchasing an additional 22,826 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in TransUnion by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 39.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 315,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,253,000 after acquiring an additional 89,340 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,439,000 after acquiring an additional 4,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 191,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,741,000 after acquiring an additional 46,612 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total transaction of $83,310.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 77,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,447,610.83. This represents a 1.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $359,761 in the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

TransUnion Price Performance

TRU opened at $86.39 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.30. The firm has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.17, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. TransUnion has a twelve month low of $66.38 and a twelve month high of $113.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

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

TransUnion declared that its board has approved a share buyback 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 purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TRU. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Bank of America began coverage on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.38.

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.