TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Given Hold Rating at Needham & Company LLC

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating reiterated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research upgraded TransUnion from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on TransUnion from $119.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of TransUnion from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $108.19.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of TRU traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $95.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,239,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,498,077. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. TransUnion has a one year low of $66.07 and a one year high of $113.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.62. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $96.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.25.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 5.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In other news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.66, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director George M. Awad sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $1,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,702,600. This trade represents a 30.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,090 shares of company stock valued at $1,916,758. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransUnion

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRU. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 307.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,540,896 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $475,432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427,199 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of TransUnion by 17.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,180,562 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,008,205,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840,800 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in TransUnion in the third quarter worth $92,661,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in TransUnion by 16.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,426,510 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $463,456,000 after buying an additional 635,581 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,008,000.

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.