D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 9,565 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

D.A. Davidson & CO. trimmed its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 17.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,260 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 9,565 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Western Union were worth $528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Western Union by 17.7% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,736,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $118,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,853 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Union by 62.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,730,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,310 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,142,400 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 4.7% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,880,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $22,438,000 after acquiring an additional 84,579 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Union by 4.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,034,943 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,647,000 after purchasing an additional 39,739 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WU. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of 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 cut their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.86.

Western Union Price Performance

Western Union stock opened at $10.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $11.27 and a 200-day moving average of $11.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $10.51 and a 52 week high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.