TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $77.82, but opened at $76.15. TransUnion shares last traded at $76.98, with a volume of 63,918 shares traded.

Specifically, EVP Richard Dane Mauldin sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total transaction of $117,150.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,720,777.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.30, for a total value of $144,307.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 75,099 shares in the company, valued at $6,105,548.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Richard Dane Mauldin sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.10, for a total value of $117,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,720,777.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,275 shares of company stock valued at $1,204,538 over the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on TRU. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on TransUnion from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on TransUnion from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of TransUnion in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on TransUnion from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on TransUnion from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.87.

TransUnion Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.17, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.61.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $954.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $927.04 million. TransUnion had a positive return on equity of 13.58% and a negative net margin of 7.50%. TransUnion's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. TransUnion's dividend payout ratio is presently -28.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Xponance Inc. increased its position in TransUnion by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,215 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $564,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners increased its position in TransUnion by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 2,311 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,887 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 2.9% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,730 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, KLR Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. KLR Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period.

TransUnion Company 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.