Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 28,552 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 916,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 28,552 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.25% of Western Union worth $10,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 694,026 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 11.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,299,090 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,302,000 after acquiring an additional 244,286 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the third quarter valued at about $527,000. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the second quarter valued at about $5,078,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Western Union by 7.8% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 83,842 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy acquired 10,000 shares of Western Union stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.85 per share, with a total value of $128,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at $722,234.25. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Western Union in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.25.

Western Union Trading Down 1.1 %

Western Union stock opened at $12.70 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $10.37 and a 12 month high of $14.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 7.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.37. Western Union had a return on equity of 113.63% and a net margin of 14.37%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.40%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.95%.

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.