AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 17,185 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 863,039 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 17,185 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.44% of TransUnion worth $80,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TRU traded up $1.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $85.09. 1,593,273 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,666,688. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $66.38 and a 52 week high of $113.17. The company's 50 day moving average price is $81.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.60 billion, a PE ratio of 58.28, a PEG 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.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The company's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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. This is a boost from TransUnion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $82,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,337,563.28. This represents a 1.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,021 shares of company stock valued at $455,711. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on TRU shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on TransUnion from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays reduced their target price on TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TransUnion presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.38.

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.