New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 313,651 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 38,358 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.09% of Western Union worth $3,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Union by 969.5% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 765,613 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,192,000 after buying an additional 694,026 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Western Union by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,299,090 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,302,000 after purchasing an additional 244,286 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $527,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,160,429 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,294,000 after purchasing an additional 83,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Western Union by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,528,570 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,141,000 after buying an additional 188,462 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy P. Murphy bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.85 per share, with a total value of $128,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,234.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt started coverage on Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.61.

Western Union Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE WU opened at $13.37 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $13.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.61. The Western Union Company has a one year low of $10.92 and a one year high of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.84.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.76% and a net margin of 14.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.62%.

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.