Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 625 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lessened its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 625 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in TransUnion by 307.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $475,432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427,199 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in TransUnion in the 3rd quarter valued at $92,661,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 16.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,426,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $463,456,000 after buying an additional 635,581 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $476,493,000 after purchasing an additional 356,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in TransUnion by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,346,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $121,345,000 after purchasing an additional 294,549 shares during the last quarter.

TransUnion Price Performance

NYSE:TRU opened at $85.41 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $92.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.48. The firm has a market cap of $16.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.50, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. TransUnion has a one year low of $66.07 and a one year high of $113.17. 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 (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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Research analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, 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 sale, the insider now owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of 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 sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on TRU. Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

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.