Swiss National Bank Sells 38,900 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 718,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 38,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $80,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Global Payments by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 28,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its position in Global Payments by 4.1% in the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Global Payments by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 992 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in Global Payments by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup cut their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Global Payments Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE GPN opened at $94.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.99 and a 52 week high of $136.36. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $106.05 and a 200-day moving average of $108.18.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

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

Global Payments Company 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.