TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Earns Hold Rating from Needham & Company LLC

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on TRU. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TransUnion presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.63.

TransUnion Price Performance

NYSE TRU opened at $100.32 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. TransUnion has a 12-month low of $66.07 and a 12-month high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 5.47%. Analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion declared that its board has authorized a share 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 reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 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 $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $1,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,600. This represents a 30.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,590 shares of company stock worth $1,854,218. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransUnion

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRU. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 307.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427,199 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,180,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,008,205,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840,800 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in TransUnion by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,749,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $625,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,339 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth $180,011,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the third quarter worth $92,661,000.

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.