Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 471 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,841 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 471 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $4,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in TransUnion by 1.0% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 10,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in TransUnion by 84.5% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 286 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in TransUnion by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in TransUnion by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in TransUnion by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other TransUnion news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $383,041 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

TransUnion Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $88.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a PE ratio of 60.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. TransUnion has a 1-year low of $66.07 and a 1-year high of $113.17. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.56. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 increased 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

About TransUnion

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.