HighTower Advisors LLC Has $869,000 Stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 45.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,374 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,921 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TRU. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $476,493,000 after purchasing an additional 356,306 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in TransUnion by 307.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,432,000 after buying an additional 3,427,199 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 16.8% during 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 buying an additional 635,581 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 2.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,154,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,251,000 after buying an additional 75,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of TransUnion by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,054,632 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $283,195,000 after acquiring an additional 188,300 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In other news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total value of $95,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at $5,611,923.60. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $383,041 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

TransUnion Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE TRU opened at $84.63 on Friday. TransUnion has a fifty-two week low of $66.07 and a fifty-two week high of $113.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.23.

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

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is 31.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on TRU shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

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.