Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. cut its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 8.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $2,774,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Global Payments by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 112,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,350,000 after buying an additional 23,105 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Global Payments by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its position in Global Payments by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 109,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,873,000 after purchasing an additional 44,723 shares during the period. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at $204,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GPN. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Stephens reduced their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on Global Payments from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.48.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $109.35. The stock had a trading volume of 165,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,290,125. The firm has a market cap of $27.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.74, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $98.46 and a 200-day moving average of $113.99.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted 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 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

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.