The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) Shares Sold by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. reduced its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU - Free Report) by 22.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,479 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 71,207 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Western Union worth $2,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Western Union in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new stake in Western Union in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Western Union by 89.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,226 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Western Union during the 3rd quarter valued at $60,000. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WU. Susquehanna cut their price target on Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Western Union from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised Western Union from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.11.

Western Union Trading Up 1.3 %

WU traded up $0.14 during trading on Thursday, reaching $10.38. The company had a trading volume of 5,607,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,809,995. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.80, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.85. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $10.04 and a 52 week high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.40 EPS 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 analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.06%. Western Union's payout ratio 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.