TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Insider Sells $83,310.00 in Stock

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $83,310.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 77,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,447,610.83. The trade was a 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

TransUnion Trading Down 5.7 %

Shares of NYSE:TRU opened at $71.10 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $90.11 and its 200 day moving average is $96.46. 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 1 year low of $66.07 and a 1 year high of $113.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, research analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend yield of 0.65%. TransUnion’s payout ratio is 31.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TRU shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Monday, March 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.54.

Institutional Trading of TransUnion

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of TransUnion by 2.7% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 10,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in TransUnion in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $892,000. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in TransUnion by 923.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 32,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,430,000 after buying an additional 29,560 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in TransUnion during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $676,000. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the 3rd quarter valued at $357,000.

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.