Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Boosts Stock Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) by 426.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,239 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in TransUnion were worth $2,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of TransUnion by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 700,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $64,945,000 after acquiring an additional 22,826 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in TransUnion by 39.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 315,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,253,000 after purchasing an additional 89,340 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in TransUnion by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,439,000 after acquiring an additional 4,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. lifted its holdings in TransUnion by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 191,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,741,000 after acquiring an additional 46,612 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of TransUnion from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America began coverage on TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on TransUnion from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of TransUnion from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at TransUnion

In other TransUnion news, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of TransUnion stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $174,342.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 105,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,095,112.82. The trade was a 1.70 % 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, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $82,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,337,563.28. This represents a 1.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $359,761. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $84.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. TransUnion has a 12 month low of $66.38 and a 12 month high of $113.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.78, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.07. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that TransUnion will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. TransUnion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.47%.

TransUnion announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

TransUnion Company 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.