Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Position Trimmed by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,801 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $8,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,087,801 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $646,151,000 after buying an additional 132,635 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 2.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,402,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $392,657,000 after buying an additional 89,057 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 338.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,288,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,416,000 after buying an additional 2,537,941 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,980,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $379,777,000 after acquiring an additional 76,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $365,933,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In related news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total value of $367,422.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,806,770.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $92.21 on Thursday. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $108.99 and its 200-day moving average is $122.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $23.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.07. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. Equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid 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 1.08%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $128.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.36.

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.