Nicholas Company Inc. Sells 17,682 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Nicholas Company Inc. cut its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 255,298 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 17,682 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. owned 0.13% of TransUnion worth $23,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,317 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,774 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 141.4% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 55,741 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,168,000 after acquiring an additional 32,646 shares in the last quarter. Zevin Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Zevin Asset Management LLC now owns 110,469 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,242,000 after purchasing an additional 11,286 shares during the period. Aviso Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 9,307 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, PGGM Investments bought a new stake in TransUnion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $338,000.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.64.

TransUnion Stock Performance

TransUnion stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $85.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,644,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,545,326. TransUnion has a one year low of $66.07 and a one year high of $113.17. The firm has a market cap of $16.65 billion, a PE ratio of 58.45, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $92.54 and a 200 day moving average of $97.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). TransUnion had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a boost from TransUnion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.51%.

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

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total value of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $383,041 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.