Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Stock Holdings Lessened by First National Trust Co

First National Trust Co cut its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 75.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 29,279 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $1,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $929,969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,659,984 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $605,078,000 after purchasing an additional 31,934 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Global Payments by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,499,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,437,000 after purchasing an additional 83,481 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,090,000 after buying an additional 490,411 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays dropped 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 note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of GPN opened at $94.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.18. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $136.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

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.