Korea Investment CORP Acquires 22,414 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Korea Investment CORP lifted its holdings in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 143,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,414 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $13,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,657 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,674,960,000 after purchasing an additional 241,019 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,139,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $476,493,000 after buying an additional 356,306 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $312,501,000 after acquiring an additional 789,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in TransUnion by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,154,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,251,000 after purchasing an additional 75,410 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at TransUnion

In related news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $93,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,568,076.80. This represents a 1.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock worth $383,041 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

TransUnion Stock Performance

TRU opened at $82.27 on Monday. TransUnion has a twelve month low of $66.07 and a twelve month high of $113.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.05 billion, a PE ratio of 56.35, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $91.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.14.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) 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 company had revenue of $1.04 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 purchase 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 shares are undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.115 dividend. This is a boost from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on TRU. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of TransUnion from $135.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.08.

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.