Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Hold Rating for TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on TRU. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $104.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of TransUnion in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, TransUnion presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.63.

TransUnion Stock Up 7.3 %

NYSE TRU opened at $100.32 on Friday. TransUnion has a 12 month low of $66.07 and a 12 month high of $113.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $19.55 billion, a PE ratio of 87.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $95.09 and its 200 day moving average is $97.75.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 5.47%. Research analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $93,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. This trade represents a 1.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,600. The trade was a 30.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,590 shares of company stock valued at $1,854,218 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,540,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,811,566,000 after buying an additional 359,569 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in TransUnion by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,657 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,674,960,000 after acquiring an additional 241,019 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in TransUnion by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,749,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $625,779,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,339 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in TransUnion by 7.4% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,044,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $467,709,000 after purchasing an additional 503,969 shares in the last quarter.

About TransUnion

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.