California State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 313,483 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 24,317 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.16% of TransUnion worth $29,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 111 Capital bought a new stake in TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at about $449,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in TransUnion by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,208 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,410,000 after buying an additional 1,742 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new stake in TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,581,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,915,000. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in TransUnion by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,848 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on TRU. UBS Group increased their price objective on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on TransUnion from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransUnion currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $82,960.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 76,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,337,563.28. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TRU stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $85.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,482,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,713,206. The company has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a PE ratio of 58.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $81.61 and a 200-day moving average of $89.84. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $66.38 and a 52 week high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.07. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. TransUnion's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. TransUnion's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.47%.

TransUnion announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Company 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.