Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 92.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 461,860 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 222,350 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC owned about 0.14% of Western Union worth $4,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Union by 0.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $307,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426,126 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $132,384,000 after buying an additional 549,931 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,206,431 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $118,788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,146,395 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,194,403 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WU shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Western Union from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $7.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Union currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.78.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE WU traded down $0.07 on Tuesday, reaching $9.66. 8,537,274 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,878,647. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 3.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. 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 Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $9.00 and a 12 month high of $13.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.57.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. Western Union had a return on equity of 96.90% and a net margin of 22.19%. The business had revenue of $983.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Western Union's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 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.