Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $705,000 in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 66,523 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $705,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WU. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 662.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,722 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 3,234 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Western Union by 1,734.7% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,862 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 4,597 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Western Union during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WU. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Union has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Price Performance

WU stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.76. The company had a trading volume of 5,313,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,925,275. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $9.00 and a 1-year high of $13.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.53. 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 capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $983.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

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.