Corebridge Financial Inc. Decreases Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Corebridge Financial Inc. reduced its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,260 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,913 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GPN. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Global Payments by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,516,000 after purchasing an additional 349,457 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 50,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,682,000 after buying an additional 26,104 shares during the last quarter. Focused Investors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $99,969,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $180,925,000 after buying an additional 72,992 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $97.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.35. 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 1 year low of $90.99 and a 1 year high of $133.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” 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 given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

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.