Wells Fargo & Company Cuts TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Price Target to $126.00

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $135.00 to $126.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on TRU. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on TransUnion from $119.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $104.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of TransUnion from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of TransUnion in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.31.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRU opened at $86.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $16.87 billion, a PE ratio of 75.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.89. TransUnion has a 1-year low of $66.07 and a 1-year high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $93,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. This represents a 1.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $1,200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,600. The trade was a 30.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,090 shares of company stock worth $1,916,758 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 910 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,048,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 160.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,202 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 76,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,661,000 after purchasing an additional 3,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in TransUnion by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 19,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,494 shares during the period.

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.