Morgan Stanley Raises TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) Price Target to $103.00

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $103.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 6.80% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on TRU. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on TransUnion from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on TransUnion from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of TransUnion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of TransUnion in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of TransUnion from $85.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, TransUnion has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.33.

TransUnion Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of TransUnion stock opened at $96.44 on Thursday. TransUnion has a 52-week low of $42.09 and a 52-week high of $99.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.73 billion, a PE ratio of -67.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $87.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.71.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. TransUnion had a negative net margin of 6.11% and a positive return on equity of 15.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that TransUnion will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.27, for a total value of $74,270.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 70,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,239,525.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Heather J. Russell sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total transaction of $511,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,393,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.27, for a total transaction of $74,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 70,547 shares in the company, valued at $5,239,525.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,200 shares of company stock valued at $3,176,957. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its stake in TransUnion by 0.7% in the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 17,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of TransUnion by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of TransUnion by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in TransUnion by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in TransUnion by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 910 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter.

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.