TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Shares Bought by Larson Financial Group LLC

Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,209 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 484 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in TransUnion by 1,428.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 226,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,743,000 after acquiring an additional 211,934 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 6,720.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 128,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,476,000 after purchasing an additional 126,819 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in TransUnion by 28.0% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 13,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 2,883 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in TransUnion during the third quarter worth about $269,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in TransUnion by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,308,028 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $136,951,000 after buying an additional 140,952 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on TRU. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target 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. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.64.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRU opened at $80.99 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.40. The company has a market cap of $15.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.47, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. 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 one year low of $66.07 and a one year high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s payout ratio is currently 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % 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, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total value of $95,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.