National Bank of Canada FI Sells 2,512,649 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

National Bank of Canada FI trimmed its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 87.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 352,686 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,512,649 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.10% of Western Union worth $4,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Western Union by 2.3% in the third 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 10.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,088,247 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Western Union by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,882,154 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $130,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,595 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,087,155 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $96,399,000 after purchasing an additional 160,735 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Western Union by 9.7% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 6,839,743 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $90,148,000 after acquiring an additional 605,620 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Union

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at $722,234.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.61.

Western Union Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WU traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.30. 2,393,311 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,723,086. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $13.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.62. The Western Union Company has a 1 year low of $10.92 and a 1 year high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.76% and a net margin of 14.12%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.