Blair William & Co. IL Sells 7,720 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its holdings in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,976 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,720 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $98.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.99 and a fifty-two week high of $133.63. The firm has a market cap of $24.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $103.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.25.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GPN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.10.

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.