TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Shares Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 274 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $1,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in TransUnion by 84.5% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 286 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in TransUnion by 963.0% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 574 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 22.3% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 910 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 156.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 857 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of TransUnion during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000.

TransUnion Trading Up 3.5 %

NYSE TRU opened at $100.39 on Thursday. TransUnion has a 1-year low of $62.42 and a 1-year high of $113.17. 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 company has a market capitalization of $19.57 billion, a PE ratio of 87.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.71.

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

TransUnion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. TransUnion’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TransUnion news, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,600. This represents a 30.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.66, for a total transaction of $158,490.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 62,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,655,312.08. This trade represents a 2.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,590 shares of company stock valued at $2,084,633 over the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TRU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on TransUnion from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on TransUnion from $104.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on TransUnion from $122.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on TransUnion from $103.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, TransUnion has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.38.

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.