TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Stake Increased by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 83,576 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,063 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $7,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in TransUnion during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 4,590.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on TRU. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $93,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. The trade was a 1.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % 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 $383,041 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

TransUnion Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $85.41 on Monday. TransUnion has a 1-year low of $66.07 and a 1-year high of $113.17. The company has a market capitalization of $16.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.50, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $92.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. As a group, research analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.51%.

TransUnion announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.