Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Stock Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 81.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 88,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 395,327 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $8,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,657 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,674,960,000 after buying an additional 241,019 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in TransUnion by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,749,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $625,779,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,339 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $476,493,000 after purchasing an additional 356,306 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 30.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,054,632 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $283,195,000 after purchasing an additional 188,300 shares during the last quarter.

TransUnion Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $72.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $14.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.58, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. TransUnion has a 1 year low of $66.07 and a 1 year high of $113.17. The company’s fifty day moving average is $86.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.02.

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

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on TRU shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America began coverage on TransUnion in a report on Thursday. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

TransUnion Company 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.