Cetera Investment Advisers Boosts Holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,239 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,488 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in TransUnion were worth $3,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TRU. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its position in TransUnion by 426.8% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 26,215 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,430,000 after acquiring an additional 21,239 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $366,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,168,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 10,013 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 3,553 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in shares of TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,829,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TRU. Bank of America began coverage on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 1.70% 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, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $83,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 77,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,447,610.83. This represents a 1.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $359,761 over the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

TransUnion Stock Down 5.4%

NYSE:TRU traded down $4.88 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $85.51. 753,338 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,667,722. The stock has a market cap of $16.68 billion, a PE ratio of 58.60, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. TransUnion has a twelve month low of $66.38 and a twelve month high of $113.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $81.80 and a 200 day moving average of $90.84.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. TransUnion's payout ratio is 24.47%.

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

About TransUnion

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.