Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Purchases New Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 138,185 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,811,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned 0.07% of TransUnion as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in TransUnion by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,540,131 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,811,566,000 after acquiring an additional 359,569 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in TransUnion by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,657 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,674,960,000 after acquiring an additional 241,019 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in TransUnion by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,749,849 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $625,779,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,339 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in TransUnion by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $476,493,000 after acquiring an additional 356,306 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in TransUnion by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,044,865 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $467,709,000 after acquiring an additional 503,969 shares during the period.

TransUnion Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE TRU traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $90.74. 1,145,306 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,673,892. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $66.38 and a 52 week high of $113.17. The stock has a market cap of $17.70 billion, a PE ratio of 62.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.07. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. TransUnion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.47%.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on TRU. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on TransUnion in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on TransUnion from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $82,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,337,563.28. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $359,761 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

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.