Farther Finance Advisors LLC Decreases Position in The Western Union Company $WU

Farther Finance Advisors LLC decreased its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 39.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,799 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 12,735 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Union by 5.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,217,217 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $139,838,000 after buying an additional 728,138 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 16.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,041,493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $136,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,062 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 1.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,175,171 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $75,913,000 after acquiring an additional 110,902 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 1.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,765,064 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $60,994,000 after acquiring an additional 103,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 27.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,964,972 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,789,000 after acquiring an additional 422,715 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Union news, CEO Devin Mcgranahan acquired 176,470 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.49 per share, with a total value of $1,498,230.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 913,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,752,431.25. This represents a 23.96% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Cagwin acquired 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.36 per share, with a total value of $146,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 225,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,886,107.96. This represents a 8.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $10.00 price target on Western Union in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Western Union from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Western Union from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. UBS Group cut their price target on Western Union from $10.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price objective on Western Union from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $8.50.

Western Union Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:WU opened at $8.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a PE ratio of 3.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $8.33 and a 200-day moving average of $9.04. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $7.85 and a 52 week high of $12.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 21.83% and a return on equity of 66.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. Analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.6%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is 35.61%.

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.