Blue Trust Inc. Cuts Stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 43.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 708 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 545 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $66,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in TransUnion by 12.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,308,028 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $136,951,000 after acquiring an additional 140,952 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in TransUnion by 307.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427,199 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in TransUnion during the third quarter valued at $892,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in TransUnion by 6,720.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 128,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,476,000 after purchasing an additional 126,819 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in TransUnion by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,439,000 after purchasing an additional 4,743 shares during the period.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $93.29 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $94.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.40. The company has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.90, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. TransUnion has a one year low of $66.07 and a one year high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. On average, research analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase 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 stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on TRU. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.64.

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In other news, insider Todd C. Skinner sold 3,090 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.48, for a total transaction of $313,573.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,469,312.84. This represents a 11.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 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 approximately $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 quarter, insiders sold 6,590 shares of company stock worth $654,218. 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.