C WorldWide Group Holding A S Sells 411,906 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

C WorldWide Group Holding A S lessened its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 75.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 411,906 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $12,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position 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 worth $2,008,205,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840,800 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $476,493,000 after acquiring an additional 356,306 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position 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 valued at $475,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427,199 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 635,581 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,154,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,251,000 after acquiring an additional 75,410 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer cut 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Todd C. Skinner sold 3,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.48, for a total transaction of $313,573.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,469,312.84. This represents a 11.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $151,095.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 60,488 shares in the company, valued at $6,092,956.24. This represents a 2.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,590 shares of company stock worth $654,218 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

TransUnion Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of TRU stock opened at $91.75 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.84, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $66.07 and a 52 week high of $113.17. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.35.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. Analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.