Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires Shares of 886 TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 886 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $82,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TRU. FMR LLC increased its position in TransUnion by 307.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 17.4% during the third 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 during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the third quarter valued at approximately $92,661,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in TransUnion by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,426,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $463,456,000 after purchasing an additional 635,581 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in TransUnion by 1,428.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 226,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,743,000 after purchasing an additional 211,934 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In related news, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $1,200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,600. This represents a 30.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,590 shares of company stock worth $1,854,218 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on TRU shares. Oppenheimer dropped their target price 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday. Five 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.64.

TransUnion Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $99.79 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.77, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63. TransUnion has a 12-month low of $66.07 and a 12-month high of $113.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. Analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s payout ratio is 31.51%.

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.