172,599 Shares in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 172,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,002,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 1.0% during 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 period. Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 286 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period.

TransUnion Stock Down 3.0 %

NYSE:TRU opened at $83.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. TransUnion has a twelve month low of $66.07 and a twelve month high of $113.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $92.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.72. 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 posted its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. Equities research analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding 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 generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. TransUnion’s payout ratio is 31.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TRU. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.64.

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.