TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Shares Bought by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,576 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,063 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in TransUnion were worth $7,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in TransUnion by 307.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $475,432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427,199 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in TransUnion in the 3rd quarter valued at about $92,661,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in TransUnion by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,370,742 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $312,501,000 after acquiring an additional 789,497 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in TransUnion by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,426,510 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $463,456,000 after acquiring an additional 635,581 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $476,493,000 after purchasing an additional 356,306 shares during the last quarter.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TRU. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company'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 owns 58,488 shares in the company, valued at $5,611,923.60. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock worth $383,041 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

TransUnion Price Performance

NYSE TRU traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $84.63. The stock had a trading volume of 1,399,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,555,401. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $16.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $66.07 and a 52-week high of $113.17.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Equities analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.51%.

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

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.