Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Boosts Holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 421,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $39,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Huntington National Bank increased its position in TransUnion by 58.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 454 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of TransUnion during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TRU has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransUnion has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $82,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,337,563.28. This represents a 1.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 stock was 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 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 have sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $359,761 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TRU opened at $86.39 on Friday. TransUnion has a 12-month low of $66.38 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 company has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a PE ratio of 59.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $80.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.40.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. TransUnion’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.47%.

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

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.