Forsta AP Fonden Trims Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Forsta AP Fonden reduced its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,800 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in Global Payments by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 453 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 34,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,603,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $110.44 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.60 and a 12 month high of $141.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a PE ratio of 21.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 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, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Global Payments from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.