TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Shares Sold by Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,362 shares during the period. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC owned about 0.05% of TransUnion worth $9,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TRU. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the 4th quarter worth about $417,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in TransUnion by 2,390.0% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 258,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,739,000 after purchasing an additional 248,225 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,657 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,674,960,000 after buying an additional 241,019 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 54,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,033,000 after buying an additional 6,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at $6,184,000.

TransUnion Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $87.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $66.07 and a 52-week high of $113.17. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.51%.

TransUnion announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TRU. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lifted their price target on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TransUnion news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $93,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,488 shares in the company, valued at $5,568,076.80. This trade represents a 1.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $383,041. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.