The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Purchased by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 67,087 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,750 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 17.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 683,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,229,000 after acquiring an additional 101,858 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,511,073 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $222,899,000 after acquiring an additional 262,895 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 1.7% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 206,944 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,794,000 after acquiring an additional 3,423 shares during the last quarter. River & Mercantile Asset Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 55.2% in the third quarter. River & Mercantile Asset Management LLP now owns 384,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,772,000 after acquiring an additional 136,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 15.0% in the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,219 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $178,000 after acquiring an additional 1,724 shares during the last quarter. 97.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Price Performance

WU stock opened at $10.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $13.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.83. The Western Union Company has a 12-month low of $10.23 and a 12-month high of $19.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.48. The company has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.87.

Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.03). Western Union had a net margin of 20.35% and a return on equity of 151.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Western Union’s revenue was down 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 16th. Western Union’s payout ratio is 40.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on Western Union from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Union has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.23.

Western Union Profile

(Get Rating)

The Western Union Co is a holding company, which engages in the provision of money transfer and payment services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer-to-Consumer, Business Solutions, and Other. The Consumer-to-Consumer segment facilitates money transfers between two consumers. The Business Solutions segment offers payment and foreign exchange solutions, cross-border, and cross-currency transactions for small and medium size enterprises and other organizations and individuals.