The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 38.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,630,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 452,398 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.48% of Western Union worth $17,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WU. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Western Union during the fourth quarter worth about $413,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Union by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,055,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $403,390,000 after purchasing an additional 317,711 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Western Union in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,586,000. Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in Western Union by 92.1% during the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 61,314 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 29,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Western Union by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 361,066 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,827,000 after buying an additional 81,406 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.11.

Western Union Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of WU opened at $10.48 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.95. The Western Union Company has a twelve month low of $10.04 and a twelve month high of $13.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.79.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). Western Union had a net margin of 22.19% and a return on equity of 96.90%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.97%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.43%.

Western Union announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, December 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Western Union

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.