Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Stock Price

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) had its price target decreased by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $130.00 to $117.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 58.90% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on TRU. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Monday, March 24th. Barclays lowered 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, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.23.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of TRU stock traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $73.63. 89,298 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,684,438. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $14.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $86.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.95. TransUnion has a fifty-two week low of $66.07 and a fifty-two week high of $113.17.

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

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total value of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at $5,611,923.60. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of TransUnion

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in TransUnion by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 10,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $956,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in TransUnion by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in TransUnion by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter.

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.