PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 410 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 410 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Machina Capital S.A.S. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 121.0% in the 4th quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 15,716 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after purchasing an additional 8,606 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $955,000. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 21,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,381,000 after acquiring an additional 2,670 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $53,700,000. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $93.01 on Thursday. Global Payments Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.99 and a 12 month high of $140.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. Research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is presently 16.18%.

Insider Activity

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.