The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 56.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 118,937 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 155,551 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc's holdings in Western Union were worth $1,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Western Union by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 22,298 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 982 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 50,387 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Western Union by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 61,606 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Western Union by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 45,825 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Western Union by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,371 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,993 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $10.50 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price 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. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Down 0.1%

WU stock traded down $0.01 on Tuesday, hitting $9.85. 5,037,340 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,030,046. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.47. The Western Union Company has a 12-month low of $9.00 and a 12-month high of $13.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.20.

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

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.07%.

Western Union 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.