Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 1,632,082 Shares of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) by 49.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,648,358 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,632,082 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.48% of Western Union worth $19,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Soviero Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Union by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Soviero Asset Management LP now owns 530,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,318,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its stake in Western Union by 90.6% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 25,090 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 11,923 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Western Union by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 384,663 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,585,000 after purchasing an additional 104,369 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Union in the 4th quarter worth approximately $194,000. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Union by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 19,189 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 3,902 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WU has been the subject of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.61.

Western Union Price Performance

NYSE:WU opened at $12.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $12.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.83. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.92 and a 1-year high of $14.19.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 120.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Western Union’s payout ratio is presently 55.62%.

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.