The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,613,283 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 20,423 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.72% of Western Union worth $31,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Western Union in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Western Union in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Western Union by 1,092.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 5,004 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Western Union in the third quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Western Union by 23.2% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,793 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WU shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Western Union in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays increased their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Union presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $722,234.25. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Union Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of WU opened at $13.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.61. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.37 and a 1-year high of $14.19. The stock has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.98%. Western Union’s payout ratio is currently 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.