Millennium Management LLC Sells 5,142,046 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Millennium Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 77.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,503,584 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 5,142,046 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.45% of Western Union worth $15,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Western Union by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $403,390,000 after purchasing an additional 317,711 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Western Union by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,983,265 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $307,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426,126 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Western Union by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $132,384,000 after purchasing an additional 549,931 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Western Union by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,206,431 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $118,788,000 after purchasing an additional 3,146,395 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in Western Union by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,021,308 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $95,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,403 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $10.50 price target (down from $11.00) on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE WU traded up $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.48. The company had a trading volume of 7,957,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,109,382. The Western Union Company has a 12-month low of $9.00 and a 12-month high of $13.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of 3.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. The business's 50-day moving average is $9.93 and its 200 day moving average is $10.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $983.60 million for 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Western Union's 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.