Mizuho Bank Ltd. Acquires Shares of 510 TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 510 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 2.7% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 10,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in TransUnion in the 3rd quarter valued at $892,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in TransUnion in the 3rd quarter valued at $676,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in TransUnion during the 3rd quarter worth $357,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 14.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,453 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 819 shares in the last quarter.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of TRU opened at $71.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.48. The stock has a market cap of $13.87 billion, a PE ratio of 48.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. TransUnion has a 1-year low of $66.07 and a 1-year high of $113.17. 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 (NYSE:TRU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is 31.51%.

TransUnion announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRU has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TransUnion presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.54.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total value of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.