TransUnion $TRU Stock: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Holdings

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its position in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 7.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 358,454 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 29,622 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $21,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of TransUnion in the third quarter worth about $85,000. Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of TransUnion in the third quarter worth approximately $1,843,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 42.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 887 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the third quarter valued at approximately $532,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mohamed Abdelsadek sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.07, for a total transaction of $98,837.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 53,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,224,789.17. The trade was a 2.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 23,287 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $1,793,099.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 196,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,162,224. This represents a 10.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 41,427 shares of company stock valued at $3,200,128 in the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

TransUnion Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE TRU opened at $83.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. TransUnion has a one year low of $60.96 and a one year high of $89.12. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 16.51% and a net margin of 15.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that TransUnion will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.1350 per share. This is an increase from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1250. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is 12.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on TRU. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of TransUnion from $106.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of TransUnion from $85.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of TransUnion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on TransUnion from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.69.

About TransUnion

TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) is a global information and insights company that helps businesses and consumers make more informed decisions. The company collects, analyzes and delivers data related to credit, identity, fraud and consumer behavior, serving customers across financial services, insurance, healthcare, retail, telecommunications and other industries.

Its products and services include consumer credit reports and scores, credit-risk assessment, marketing and audience insights, identity verification, fraud detection, investigative tools and decisioning software.