TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,744,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,035,634 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $326,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 23.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,923,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,472,000 after purchasing an additional 942,924 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of TransUnion by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,667,696 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $191,514,000 after buying an additional 14,320 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,172,921 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $155,994,000 after buying an additional 122,519 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 2.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,153,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $82,777,000 after buying an additional 31,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in TransUnion by 5.5% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,102,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,130,000 after acquiring an additional 57,348 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Richard Dane Mauldin sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total value of $117,150.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,720,777.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Richard Dane Mauldin sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total value of $117,150.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,720,777.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 12,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.59, for a total transaction of $943,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 54,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,284,883.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,275 shares of company stock worth $1,204,538. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on TransUnion from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of TransUnion from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on TransUnion from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of TransUnion from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of TransUnion from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.60.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of TransUnion stock traded up $1.42 on Monday, hitting $75.91. 1,461,836 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,710,233. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $76.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.61. TransUnion has a 1-year low of $42.09 and a 1-year high of $82.75.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.12. TransUnion had a positive return on equity of 14.26% and a negative net margin of 7.02%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $977.62 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. TransUnion’s payout ratio is presently -29.37%.

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.