New York State Common Retirement Fund Raises Stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 91.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 215,022 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 102,810 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.11% of TransUnion worth $17,845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TRU. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth about $16,002,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,642 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,374 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 141.4% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 55,741 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,168,000 after purchasing an additional 32,646 shares during the period.

TransUnion Price Performance

NYSE TRU traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $93.72. The stock had a trading volume of 1,502,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,822,693. The firm's 50 day moving average is $88.24 and its 200 day moving average is $87.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.85, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.63. TransUnion has a twelve month low of $66.38 and a twelve 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.07. TransUnion had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 16.18%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. TransUnion's payout ratio is 24.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TRU. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America began coverage on TransUnion in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer set a $108.00 price target on TransUnion and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $110.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total value of $87,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 74,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,482,606.02. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 3,000 shares of company stock worth $255,010 over the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.