TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Shares Acquired by Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,660 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TRU. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in TransUnion by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,422,399 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $131,872,000 after purchasing an additional 217,288 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at $290,000. Hunting Hill Global Capital LLC purchased a new stake in TransUnion during the 4th quarter worth $467,000. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its position in TransUnion by 293.4% in the fourth quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 9,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 7,429 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 63,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,920,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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. Insiders have sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on TRU shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective 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. Bank of America initiated coverage on TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their target price on TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TransUnion has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.23.

TransUnion Stock Up 6.8 %

TransUnion stock opened at $75.51 on Wednesday. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $66.38 and a 52 week high of $113.17. The stock has a market cap of $14.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.72, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

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

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

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

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.