MML Investors Services LLC Takes Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,946 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $623,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in TransUnion by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,675 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $594,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Castleark Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the third quarter valued at approximately $931,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in TransUnion by 16.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,426,510 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $463,456,000 after purchasing an additional 635,581 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in TransUnion by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 62,480 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,542,000 after purchasing an additional 3,896 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in TransUnion by 77.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 20,254 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 8,821 shares in the last quarter.

TransUnion Stock Performance

NYSE:TRU traded up $2.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $95.11. 2,817,262 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,593,615. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $63.03 and a 52-week high of $113.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.71, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.60. The company's 50 day moving average price is $101.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.00.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. TransUnion had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

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 dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. TransUnion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.59, for a total value of $261,475.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,888,432.01. This represents a 5.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.66, for a total value of $158,490.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 62,988 shares in the company, valued at $6,655,312.08. This represents a 2.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,590 shares of company stock worth $2,084,633 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research raised TransUnion from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of TransUnion from $104.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of TransUnion in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on TransUnion from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, TransUnion has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.06.

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.