271,020 Shares in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Purchased by Arnhold LLC

Arnhold LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 271,020 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,873,000. Arnhold LLC owned 0.08% of Western Union at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $403,390,000 after buying an additional 317,711 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,983,265 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $307,224,000 after buying an additional 4,426,126 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $132,384,000 after buying an additional 549,931 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,021,308 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $95,626,000 after buying an additional 2,194,403 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Western Union by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,305,933 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $66,843,000 after buying an additional 1,857,012 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Western Union Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE WU traded down $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,459,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,801,422. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 3.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.69. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $10.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.64. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $9.00 and a fifty-two week high of $13.60.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WU shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $10.50 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.78.

About Western Union

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.