Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 4,033 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Bridgewater Associates LP reduced its stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 209,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,033 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $19,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRU. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 10,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in TransUnion by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in TransUnion by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in TransUnion by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of TransUnion by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America began coverage on TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransUnion presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.23.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total value of $95,950.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

TransUnion Stock Up 0.5 %

TRU stock opened at $75.17 on Wednesday. TransUnion has a fifty-two week low of $66.07 and a fifty-two week high of $113.17. The company has a market capitalization of $14.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $85.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.