Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 3,553 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 55.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,013 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,553 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in TransUnion were worth $928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TRU. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in TransUnion by 52.5% in 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. Norges Bank acquired a new position in TransUnion during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $180,011,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in TransUnion by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,370,742 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $312,501,000 after purchasing an additional 789,497 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 503,969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its stake in TransUnion by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 2,086,050 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $193,398,000 after buying an additional 375,736 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TRU. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.38.

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In other news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock worth $359,761 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

TransUnion Price Performance

TRU traded up $5.70 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $91.81. 1,669,747 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,673,148. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.88, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $66.38 and a 52-week high of $113.17.

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

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. TransUnion's payout ratio is 24.47%.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.