The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 195,609 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 16,368 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.05% of Western Union worth $2,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 30,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 4,265 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 137.8% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 117,142 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,195,000 after acquiring an additional 67,876 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 58,715 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 7,576 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,410,073 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,173,000 after acquiring an additional 370,987 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 72,887 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 2,286 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey A. Joerres purchased 7,745 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,445.80. Following the acquisition, the chairman now owns 167,337 shares in the company, valued at $2,148,607.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WU. Credit Suisse Group lowered their price target on Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Western Union from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Western Union from $19.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Monday, October 10th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $13.50 in a research note on Friday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.30.

Western Union Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Western Union stock opened at $14.29 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94. The firm has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $13.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.73. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $12.27 and a fifty-two week high of $20.40.

Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 1st. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 195.13% and a net margin of 17.78%. Analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 19th were given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.55%.

Western Union Company Profile

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The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Consumer-to-Consumer and Business Solutions. The Consumer-to-Consumer segment facilitates money transfers between two consumers, primarily through a network of third-party agents and sub-agents; and offers international cross-border transfers and intra-country transfers, as well as money transfer transactions through websites and mobile devices.