Virtu Financial LLC Has $650,000 Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 92.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,314 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 29,388 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in Western Union were worth $650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Western Union by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,926,192 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $154,209,000 after buying an additional 52,081 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Western Union by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,489,079 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $132,384,000 after buying an additional 549,931 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,179,698 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $85,671,000 after buying an additional 25,458 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Western Union by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,305,933 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $66,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Western Union by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,698,559 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $20,264,000 after purchasing an additional 283,479 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Western Union Price Performance

Western Union stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.43. The company had a trading volume of 5,838,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,285,107. The Western Union Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.04 and a fifty-two week high of $14.00. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.79. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.98.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 predict that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Union announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, December 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 27.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Western Union's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.43%.

Western Union Company 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.