Moran Wealth Management LLC Invests $2.54 Million in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 212,536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,536,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 30.7% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 348,850 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,263,000 after buying an additional 82,018 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its holdings in Western Union by 11.9% during the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 704,054 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,399,000 after purchasing an additional 74,742 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Western Union by 7,569.8% in 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 buying an additional 13,724,584 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Western Union in the 3rd quarter worth $957,000. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in Western Union during the second quarter valued at $2,288,000. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Union Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:WU opened at $10.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.58, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96. The Western Union Company has a 12-month low of $10.51 and a 12-month high of $14.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.05.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its 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 analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.