Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC reduced its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,601 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Global Payments by 77.7% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 407 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GPN. TheStreet upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Global Payments from $143.00 to $128.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp cut their price target on Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.00.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $111.37 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.92. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $95.12 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $127.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.82. The company has a market capitalization of $28.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Global Payments Profile

Global Payments Inc provides payment technology and software solutions for card, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through two segments, Merchant Solutions and Issuer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization, settlement and funding, customer support, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security, and consolidated billing and reporting services.