TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Shares Sold by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC decreased its position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 24.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,020 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TRU. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of TransUnion by 307.7% during the 3rd 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. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in TransUnion by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,370,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,501,000 after buying an additional 789,497 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in TransUnion by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,426,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $463,456,000 after buying an additional 635,581 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in TransUnion by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $476,493,000 after buying an additional 356,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in TransUnion by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,346,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $121,345,000 after buying an additional 294,549 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.08.

TransUnion Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE TRU opened at $84.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a PE ratio of 57.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $91.97 and a 200-day moving average of $97.23. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $66.07 and a 52-week high of $113.17.

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

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is 31.51%.

TransUnion announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $93,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. This represents a 1.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $383,041. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.