Mariner LLC Sells 5,385 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Mariner LLC cut its position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,629 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,385 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in TransUnion were worth $2,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of TransUnion during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $444,000. American Trust bought a new position in TransUnion during the third quarter valued at $242,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 1,428.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 226,771 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $23,743,000 after buying an additional 211,934 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 428 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $83,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 77,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,447,610.83. The trade was a 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock worth $372,751 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of TRU stock opened at $75.51 on Wednesday. TransUnion has a twelve month low of $66.38 and a twelve month high of $113.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. On average, analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.115 dividend. This is an increase from TransUnion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. TransUnion's payout ratio is 31.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on TRU. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on TransUnion from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays cut their target price on TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective 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. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.23.

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.

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