Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,320 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 46,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,963,000 after purchasing an additional 12,273 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 82,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,499,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 255,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,064,000 after buying an additional 15,655 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.4 %

GPN opened at $103.52 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $99.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.85. Global Payments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.07. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 13.40%. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.84%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total transaction of $367,422.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,806,770.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on GPN shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Global Payments from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.32.

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.