Squarepoint Ops LLC Buys 76,582 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 96.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,894 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 76,582 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned approximately 0.08% of TransUnion worth $14,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in TransUnion by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,308 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,439,000 after purchasing an additional 4,743 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in TransUnion by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,405 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $292,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in TransUnion by 293.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,602 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,632,000 after purchasing an additional 13,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in TransUnion by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,359 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of TransUnion in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of TransUnion from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.69.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of TransUnion stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $82.64. The stock had a trading volume of 294,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,970,171. The firm has a market cap of $16.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. TransUnion has a 12 month low of $66.38 and a 12 month high of $113.17. The business's 50-day moving average is $81.68 and its 200 day moving average is $90.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 0.56%. TransUnion's payout ratio is 24.47%.

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.