The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Sold by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 46.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 18,621 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Western Union were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Western Union by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 17,854,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $235,324,000 after purchasing an additional 408,661 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,498,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $151,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,247 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,882,154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $130,247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,595 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 7,926,420 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $104,470,000 after acquiring an additional 25,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 6,839,743 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $90,148,000 after acquiring an additional 605,620 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Union

In related news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.85 per share, with a total value of $128,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at $722,234.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WU has been the subject of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Union has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.45.

Western Union Stock Up 1.4 %

Western Union stock opened at $13.47 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $10.37 and a twelve month high of $14.19. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.61.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.98%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.62%.

Western Union Company Profile

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates through Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services segments. The Consumer Money Transfer segment facilitates money transfers for international cross-border and intra-country transfers, primarily through a network of retail agent locations, as well as through websites and mobile devices.