The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Sold by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC trimmed its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,655 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,418 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Western Union were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Western Union by 7,000.0% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Union during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 157.6% during the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,554 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 97.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Union Trading Down 1.8 %

Western Union stock opened at $12.22 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.45. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $10.07 and a 12 month high of $18.23. The stock has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The credit services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.09. Western Union had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 128.52%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. Western Union’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 16th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 15th. Western Union’s payout ratio is presently 47.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Western Union from $15.00 to $12.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Western Union from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Union currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.70.

Western Union Profile

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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.