TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Shares Acquired by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,488 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in TransUnion were worth $3,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TRU. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 700,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $64,945,000 after purchasing an additional 22,826 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in TransUnion by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in TransUnion by 39.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 315,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,253,000 after buying an additional 89,340 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in TransUnion by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,439,000 after buying an additional 4,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. grew its holdings in TransUnion by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 191,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,741,000 after buying an additional 46,612 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total transaction of $83,310.00. Following the sale, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $359,761. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on TRU shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransUnion presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.38.

TransUnion Trading Up 0.6%

TRU opened at $91.19 on Friday. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $66.38 and a 52-week high of $113.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $81.23 and its 200-day moving average is $91.13.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.07. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. TransUnion’s payout ratio is 24.47%.

TransUnion Company 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.