Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,525 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,598 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $9,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in Global Payments by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake in Global Payments by 60.5% during the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after buying an additional 7,387 shares during the period. Shaker Investments LLC OH acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,815,000. AFS Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Global Payments by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 19,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,479,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $111.09 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $95.12 and a 1-year high of $141.77.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GPN. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $163.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $158.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.00.

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.