Morgan Stanley Boosts TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Price Target to $119.00

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $103.00 to $119.00 in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on TRU. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $104.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on TransUnion from $85.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on TransUnion from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group began coverage on TransUnion in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.53.

TransUnion Trading Down 2.9 %

TRU opened at $103.59 on Thursday. TransUnion has a one year low of $42.09 and a one year high of $113.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $20.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $101.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.80.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. TransUnion had a positive return on equity of 15.03% and a negative net margin of 6.11%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. TransUnion’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is currently -29.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Heather J. Russell sold 3,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.58, for a total transaction of $303,275.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,926 shares in the company, valued at $1,904,527.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Heather J. Russell sold 3,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.58, for a total value of $303,275.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,904,527.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer A. Williams sold 405 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.58, for a total value of $38,709.90. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,837.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,715 shares of company stock valued at $1,299,729. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 237.5% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 486 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in TransUnion by 963.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 574 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in TransUnion by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 910 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in TransUnion by 156.6% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 857 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in TransUnion during the second quarter worth $75,000.

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.