American Century Companies Inc. Sells 63,720 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 162,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 63,720 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.06% of Global Payments worth $15,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the second quarter valued at about $115,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 2nd quarter valued at about $77,000. Marco Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 57,722 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,995 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 644.1% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 18,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,821,000 after purchasing an additional 16,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 596.3% in the 2nd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,648 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,803,000 after buying an additional 15,970 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GPN shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $147.00 price objective on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Global Payments Stock Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $110.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $105.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77. 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 (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.84%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.