Swiss National Bank Sells 27,500 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 548,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 27,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of TransUnion worth $50,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in TransUnion by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,180,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,008,205,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840,800 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $476,493,000 after buying an additional 356,306 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 307.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $475,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427,199 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in TransUnion by 16.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,426,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $463,456,000 after acquiring an additional 635,581 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in TransUnion by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,154,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,251,000 after acquiring an additional 75,410 shares in the last quarter.

TransUnion Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE TRU opened at $82.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. 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 has a 12-month low of $66.07 and a 12-month high of $113.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.87.

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). The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. On average, analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.51%.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TRU shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer dropped 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. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $383,041. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.