Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Takes Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 48,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,974,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in TransUnion by 17.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,180,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,008,205,000 after buying an additional 2,840,800 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 307.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427,199 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in TransUnion by 24.1% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,468,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,250,000 after purchasing an additional 674,187 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in TransUnion by 2.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,154,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,251,000 after purchasing an additional 75,410 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in TransUnion by 37.4% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,566,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $190,363,000 after buying an additional 698,580 shares in the last quarter.

TransUnion Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:TRU opened at $100.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.87. TransUnion has a one year low of $58.59 and a one year high of $113.17. The firm has a market cap of $19.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.60.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 5.47%. TransUnion’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.59, for a total value of $261,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,888,432.01. This trade represents a 5.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd C. Skinner sold 3,090 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.48, for a total transaction of $313,573.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,333 shares in the company, valued at $2,469,312.84. This trade represents a 11.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,090 shares of company stock valued at $1,933,538. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on TRU shares. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of TransUnion from $122.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of TransUnion from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on TransUnion from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on TransUnion from $104.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TransUnion has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.38.

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.