Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 0.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,939,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,133 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $142,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WU. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 7,569.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,905,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,405,000 after acquiring an additional 13,724,584 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its position in Western Union by 17.7% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,736,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,853 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Western Union by 62.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,310 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Western Union by 52.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,337,466 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142,400 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Western Union by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,880,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,438,000 after purchasing an additional 84,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Western Union Stock Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $11.06 on Monday. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $10.51 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The company has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.87.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.39% and a net margin of 16.07%. Western Union’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on WU shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.86.

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.