Jones Financial Companies Lllp Purchases 803 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 62.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 803 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at $324,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $929,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TRU. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.64.

TransUnion Price Performance

TRU opened at $80.31 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $93.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.08. TransUnion has a 12-month low of $66.07 and a 12-month high of $113.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.01, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Equities analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company 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 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 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

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

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In other news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $383,041. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

TransUnion 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.