William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires 789,497 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 30.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,370,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 789,497 shares during the quarter. TransUnion accounts for approximately 0.8% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 1.73% of TransUnion worth $312,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 10,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 84.5% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 286 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TRU stock opened at $82.44 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $92.91 and a 200 day moving average of $97.88. TransUnion has a 52 week low of $66.07 and a 52 week high of $113.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.47, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.115 dividend. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in 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 an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TRU shares. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TransUnion currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TransUnion news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,611,923.60. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.