Olympiad Research LP Invests $124,000 in The Western Union Company $WU

Olympiad Research LP bought a new position in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 14,712 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $124,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its stake in Western Union by 6.7% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 98,205 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Western Union by 48.3% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,299,974 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $19,366,000 after acquiring an additional 749,008 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Western Union by 15.9% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 28,577 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 3,922 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the second quarter valued at $428,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Union during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $370,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Western Union news, CEO Devin Mcgranahan purchased 176,470 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.49 per share, for a total transaction of $1,498,230.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 913,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,752,431.25. The trade was a 23.96% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Giovanni Angelini bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.95 per share, with a total value of $89,500.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 186,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,041.40. The trade was a 5.65% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought a total of 203,970 shares of company stock worth $1,734,030 over the last quarter. 1.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WU has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $10.00 price target on shares of Western Union in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays set a $8.00 price target on shares of Western Union and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Western Union from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Western Union from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $8.70.

Western Union Trading Down 1.2%

WU opened at $8.85 on Friday. The Western Union Company has a 12 month low of $7.85 and a 12 month high of $11.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.71. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.86, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Western Union had a net margin of 18.80% and a return on equity of 60.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Western Union has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.6%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.05%.

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.