Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 172,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,002,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in TransUnion by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in TransUnion by 58.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 454 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in TransUnion in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransUnion presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $83,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 77,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,447,610.83. This represents a 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $372,751 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

TransUnion Stock Down 2.9 %

TransUnion stock opened at $70.75 on Tuesday. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $66.38 and a 52 week high of $113.17. The firm has a market cap of $13.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

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

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its board 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 purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.