TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Shares Sold by Thornburg Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Thornburg Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in TransUnion by 7.4%, now owning approximately 225,769 shares valued at $18.7 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Teacher Retirement System of Texas and Bank of New York Mellon Corp, have either increased their positions or initiated new investments in TransUnion.
• BMO Capital Markets and Oppenheimer both raised their price targets for TransUnion shares, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 225,769 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 18,087 shares during the quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of TransUnion worth $18,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 105.3% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 423 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in TransUnion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in TransUnion by 58.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 454 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in TransUnion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in TransUnion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on TRU shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $124.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of TransUnion from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.46.

TransUnion Price Performance

TRU stock traded down $3.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $92.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,758,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,079,205. The company has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.63. TransUnion has a 12-month low of $66.38 and a 12-month high of $113.17. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $89.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.01.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.09. TransUnion had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 16.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. TransUnion's payout ratio is 23.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total value of $87,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 74,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,482,606.02. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.