Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Stock

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $119.00 to $130.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 32.07% from the stock’s current price.

TRU has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of TransUnion from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.06.

TransUnion Stock Performance

TRU stock opened at $98.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $19.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.92. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $63.03 and a 52 week high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TransUnion news, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.59, for a total transaction of $261,475.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,888,432.01. This represents a 5.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.66, for a total transaction of $158,490.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 62,988 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,655,312.08. The trade was a 2.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,590 shares of company stock worth $2,084,633 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRU. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 286 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in TransUnion by 963.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 574 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in TransUnion by 4,590.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in TransUnion by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 910 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in TransUnion by 156.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 857 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter.

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.