First National Trust Co Invests $240,000 in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

First National Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 58.1% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 11,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 4,295 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 11.9% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in Global Payments by 2.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 43,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,993,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in Global Payments by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,352 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN traded down $0.23 on Monday, hitting $111.14. 119,285 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,255,025. The business’s fifty day moving average is $127.50 and its 200 day moving average is $124.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $95.12 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $129.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays cut their price objective on Global Payments from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.00.

About Global Payments

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.