Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Raises Stock Holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 1,375.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,700 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in TransUnion were worth $1,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 52.5% in the fourth 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at about $180,011,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,370,742 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $312,501,000 after buying an additional 789,497 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 503,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 2,086,050 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $193,398,000 after buying an additional 375,736 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America started coverage on TransUnion in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.38.

TransUnion Stock Performance

TRU stock traded up $0.39 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.00. The company had a trading volume of 190,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,662,301. TransUnion has a 1-year low of $66.38 and a 1-year high of $113.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $82.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.72. 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 has a market cap of $16.00 billion, a PE ratio of 56.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. TransUnion's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. On average, analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This is a positive change from TransUnion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion's payout ratio is currently 24.47%.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.