Holocene Advisors LP Buys 239,367 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 79.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 541,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 239,367 shares during the quarter. Holocene Advisors LP’s holdings in Western Union were worth $6,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Union during the third quarter worth $974,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in Western Union by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 64,988 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 5,745 shares during the last quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Union by 4.9% during the third quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 60,974 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $727,000 after buying an additional 2,845 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in Western Union by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 373,410 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,455,000 after acquiring an additional 88,498 shares during the period. 91.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Union Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of WU stock opened at $10.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.90. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.51 and a 1-year high of $14.19. The company has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.58, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 120.39%. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WU has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Union from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Western Union from $13.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Union presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.