American Trust Makes New Investment in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

American Trust purchased a new position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,180,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,008,205,000 after buying an additional 2,840,800 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,427,199 shares during the last quarter. 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 24.1% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,468,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,250,000 after acquiring an additional 674,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,154,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,251,000 after buying an additional 75,410 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Todd C. Skinner sold 3,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.48, for a total value of $313,573.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,469,312.84. This represents a 11.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $151,095.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 60,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,092,956.24. This trade represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,590 shares of company stock worth $2,084,633 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

TransUnion Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of TRU opened at $98.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.92. TransUnion has a one year low of $63.03 and a one year high of $113.17. The company has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.60.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of TransUnion in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $104.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Seven 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.com, TransUnion has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.06.

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.