Norges Bank Buys Shares of 1,941,660 TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 1,941,660 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $180,011,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in TransUnion by 82.1% in 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 purchased a new position in shares of TransUnion in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in TransUnion by 4,590.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in TransUnion during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in TransUnion in the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

TransUnion Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of TRU opened at $82.27 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.05 billion, a PE ratio of 56.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s fifty day moving average is $91.72 and its 200 day moving average is $97.14. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $66.07 and a fifty-two week high of $113.17.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.51%.

TransUnion announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.