National Bank of Canada FI Sells 2,698,770 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

National Bank of Canada FI trimmed its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 97.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,698,770 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $7,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Global Payments by 3.8% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 5,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $687,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,828,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 2.9% in the third quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 3.5% in the third quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN stock opened at $111.57 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $126.23 and a 200-day moving average of $124.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $95.12 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its 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 net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. Global Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $158.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their target price on Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.00.

Global Payments Company 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.