Tidal Investments LLC Boosts Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 2,513.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,904 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 92,234 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in TransUnion were worth $8,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 700,518 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $64,945,000 after purchasing an additional 22,826 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,097 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 39.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 315,530 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,253,000 after purchasing an additional 89,340 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,308 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,439,000 after purchasing an additional 4,743 shares during the period. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 191,364 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,741,000 after purchasing an additional 46,612 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

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 transaction of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $82,960.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 76,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,337,563.28. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock worth $359,761 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

TransUnion Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:TRU traded down $1.31 on Friday, reaching $83.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,951,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,692,401. The company has a market cap of $16.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The firm's fifty day moving average is $81.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.46. TransUnion has a 12-month low of $66.38 and a 12-month high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.07. The company 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. Equities analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. TransUnion's payout ratio is currently 24.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on TRU shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransUnion presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.69.

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.