Metis Global Partners LLC Raises Stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 6.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TRU. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 32.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,339,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,211,757,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977,595 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in TransUnion by 51.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,755,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $539,108,000 after buying an additional 2,306,596 shares during the last quarter. XN LP raised its stake in shares of TransUnion by 194.7% in the second quarter. XN LP now owns 1,973,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $146,368,000 after buying an additional 1,303,996 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of TransUnion by 37.4% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,566,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $190,363,000 after buying an additional 698,580 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of TransUnion by 24.1% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,468,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,250,000 after buying an additional 674,187 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In other news, CAO Jennifer A. Williams sold 405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.58, for a total transaction of $38,709.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,837.88. This represents a 5.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.66, for a total value of $158,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 62,988 shares in the company, valued at $6,655,312.08. The trade was a 2.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,315 shares of company stock valued at $1,119,897. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

TransUnion Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE TRU opened at $96.93 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.06. TransUnion has a twelve month low of $56.85 and a twelve month high of $113.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $18.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.29, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.62.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 5.47%. TransUnion’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Research analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRU has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on TransUnion from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $103.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of TransUnion from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.81.

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.