Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by AM Investment Strategies LLC

AM Investment Strategies LLC cut its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 199 shares during the period. AM Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 77.7% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 407 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE:GPN traded down $2.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $124.63. The stock had a trading volume of 1,196,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,156,823. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.58. The company has a market capitalization of $31.79 billion, a PE ratio of 32.97, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $95.12 and a twelve month high of $141.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.94 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 26.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.92.

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.