TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,066,657 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 241,019 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.27% of TransUnion worth $1,674,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total value of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TRU opened at $85.71 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a PE ratio of 58.70, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $92.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.32. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $66.07 and a 52 week high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Research analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s payout ratio is currently 31.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on TRU shares. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Monday. UBS Group upped their price target on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.08.

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.