B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Acquires 4,447 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 46.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,018 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,447 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in TransUnion were worth $1,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,749,849 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $625,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,339 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,338 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. Allstate Corp bought a new position in TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth about $525,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in TransUnion in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 56.4% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 8,876 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $823,000 after purchasing an additional 3,201 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $83,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 77,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,447,610.83. This represents a 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction dated 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

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TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of TRU traded up $2.93 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $73.57. The stock had a trading volume of 933,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,854,992. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70. TransUnion has a 12 month low of $66.07 and a 12 month high of $113.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.35 billion, a PE ratio of 50.42, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The company's 50-day moving average is $89.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.18.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Research analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. This is a positive change from TransUnion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion's payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TRU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.54.

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.