Entropy Technologies LP Invests $748,000 in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 8,068 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $748,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in TransUnion by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,484 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth about $634,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in TransUnion in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in TransUnion by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its position in TransUnion by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,054,632 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $283,195,000 after buying an additional 188,300 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other 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 transaction, the director now owns 27,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,600. This represents a 30.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Todd C. Skinner sold 3,090 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.48, for a total value of $313,573.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,469,312.84. This represents a 11.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,590 shares of company stock valued at $1,854,218. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

TransUnion Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE TRU traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $99.79. The stock had a trading volume of 2,429,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,398,812. The company's 50 day moving average price is $95.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. TransUnion has a twelve month low of $66.07 and a twelve month high of $113.17. The firm has a market cap of $19.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.115 dividend. This is an increase from TransUnion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion's payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on TRU shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of TransUnion in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.