TransUnion $TRU Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group cut its TransUnion stake by 7.6% in the third quarter, selling 29,622 shares and retaining 358,454 shares valued at about $21.9 million.
• TransUnion reported quarterly EPS of $1.25, topping the $1.21 estimate, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year to $1.31 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.135 per share from $0.125.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: the stock carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $90.69.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 358,454 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 29,622 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.19% of TransUnion worth $21,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TRU. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the 3rd quarter worth about $85,000. Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,843,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 42.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 887 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of TransUnion in the third quarter valued at approximately $532,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of TransUnion in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on TRU. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $85.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on TransUnion from $102.00 to $96.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. BNP Paribas Exane raised TransUnion from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on TransUnion from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Zacks Research cut TransUnion from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.69.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TRU opened at $83.15 on Friday. TransUnion has a twelve month low of $60.96 and a twelve month high of $89.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $15.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $74.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 15.83% and a return on equity of 16.51%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that TransUnion will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.1350 per share. This is a boost from TransUnion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.1250. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. TransUnion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In related news, insider Todd Skinner sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total transaction of $77,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 53,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,179,613.36. This trade represents a 1.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total transaction of $77,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 77,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,055,013.12. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,427 shares of company stock valued at $3,200,128. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About TransUnion

TransUnion NYSE: TRU is a global information and insights company that helps businesses and consumers make more informed decisions. The company collects, analyzes and delivers data related to credit, identity, fraud and consumer behavior, serving customers across financial services, insurance, healthcare, retail, telecommunications and other industries.

Its products and services include consumer credit reports and scores, credit-risk assessment, marketing and audience insights, identity verification, fraud detection, investigative tools and decisioning software.

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