TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Stock Falls 5.3% on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• TransUnion shares fell 5.3% to approximately $62.66 after Goldman Sachs cut its price target from $89 to $77 while maintaining a neutral rating.
• Despite the downgrade, analyst sentiment remains generally positive: ten analysts rate the stock Buy and six rate it Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $94.25.
• TransUnion recently reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.23 and revenue of $1.31 billion, while insiders have sold 73,697 shares worth approximately $5.86 million over the past three months.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 5.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $89.00 to $77.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. TransUnion traded as low as $63.09 and last traded at $62.6590. Approximately 391,149 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 2,449,127 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.19.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on TransUnion from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of TransUnion from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Griffin Securities set a $98.00 target price on shares of TransUnion in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TransUnion news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 23,287 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $1,793,099.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 196,912 shares in the company, valued at $15,162,224. This represents a 10.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Chaouki sold 10,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total value of $726,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 89,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,530,771.84. This trade represents a 10.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 73,697 shares of company stock worth $5,861,807. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in TransUnion during the second quarter valued at about $1,367,560,000. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 99.7% in the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 9,136,903 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $783,489,000 after purchasing an additional 4,561,619 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,932,203 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $422,936,000 after purchasing an additional 323,149 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,520,417 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $301,012,000 after purchasing an additional 24,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of TransUnion during the 2nd quarter valued at about $280,292,000.

TransUnion Trading Down 6.0%

The company has a market capitalization of $11.92 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $78.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.88.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.07. TransUnion had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 15.08%.The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. TransUnion's revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. TransUnion has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.180-1.210 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.750-4.830 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were paid a $0.1250 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. TransUnion's dividend payout ratio is 13.19%.

About TransUnion

TransUnion NYSE: TRU is a global information and insights company that helps businesses and consumers make more informed decisions. Its services use credit, identity, and other data to support lending, insurance, telecommunications, retail, employment, and other commercial activities.

The company provides credit reporting and risk-management solutions, including consumer credit information, scoring, decisioning tools, fraud detection, identity verification, and analytics. TransUnion also offers marketing and audience-insights products designed to help organizations understand and reach consumers, as well as consumer-facing services that provide access to credit information, monitoring, and identity-protection tools.

TransUnion traces its origins to 1968, when it was established as a holding company for a railroad-leasing business before developing into a consumer credit reporting organization.

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