TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Earns “Hold” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on TRU. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.64.

TransUnion Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE TRU opened at $99.79 on Friday. 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. TransUnion has a one year low of $66.07 and a one year high of $113.17. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $95.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.91.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TransUnion news, insider Todd C. Skinner sold 3,090 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.48, for a total value of $313,573.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,469,312.84. The trade was a 11.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,590 shares of company stock worth $1,854,218 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of TransUnion

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRU. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in TransUnion by 12.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 140,952 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in TransUnion by 307.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $475,432,000 after buying an additional 3,427,199 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in TransUnion in the 3rd quarter worth $892,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in TransUnion by 6,720.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 128,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,476,000 after acquiring an additional 126,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 4,743 shares during the period.

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.