Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $1.02 Million Stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Free Report) by 53.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,025 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,848 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in TransUnion were worth $1,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 700,518 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $64,945,000 after purchasing an additional 22,826 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in TransUnion by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,097 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 315,530 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,253,000 after buying an additional 89,340 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of TransUnion by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,308 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,439,000 after buying an additional 4,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 14.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,453 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on TransUnion in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.23.

TransUnion Stock Down 1.2 %

TransUnion stock traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $72.88. 1,111,010 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,673,626. The firm has a market cap of $14.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $85.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.25. 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 has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $113.17.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This is a boost from TransUnion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. TransUnion's payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

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.