Assetmark Inc. Buys 83,300 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 64.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 212,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,300 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $19,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TRU. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in TransUnion by 17.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,840,800 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in 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 worth $476,493,000 after acquiring an additional 356,306 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in TransUnion by 307.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in 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 worth $463,456,000 after acquiring an additional 635,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $330,251,000 after acquiring an additional 75,410 shares in the last quarter.

TransUnion Stock Performance

TRU opened at $87.05 on Friday. TransUnion has a 12-month low of $66.07 and a 12-month high of $113.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a PE ratio of 59.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $94.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.46.

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

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.51%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TRU. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research 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 company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

TransUnion Company 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.