Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Makes New $47,000 Investment in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 512 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TRU. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 56.4% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 8,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $823,000 after buying an additional 3,201 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in TransUnion in the fourth quarter valued at about $180,011,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in TransUnion by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 15,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,456,000 after purchasing an additional 2,746 shares in the last quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp increased its holdings in TransUnion by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp now owns 408,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,909,000 after purchasing an additional 51,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of TransUnion by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 167,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,537,000 after buying an additional 6,690 shares during the last quarter.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TRU opened at $85.66 on Thursday. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $66.07 and a 52-week high of $113.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.71 billion, a PE ratio of 58.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $91.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). The business 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given 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 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.51%.

TransUnion declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on TRU shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of TransUnion from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased 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. Four equities 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other news, 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,021 shares of company stock valued at $289,441. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

TransUnion Profile

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.