Nicholas Company Inc. Sells 17,682 Shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Nicholas Company Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 255,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,682 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of TransUnion worth $23,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 286 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in TransUnion during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 4,590.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in TransUnion during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000.

Insider Activity at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,021 shares of company stock worth $383,041 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

TransUnion Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $82.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.47, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.70. 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 has a 12-month low of $66.07 and a 12-month high of $113.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $92.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.87.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. On average, analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRU has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of TransUnion from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of TransUnion from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.64.

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.