Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 5,225 Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,225 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $6,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 94.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 177.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In related news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. The trade was a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on GPN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup reduced their target price 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. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Bank of America reduced their target price 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. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $103.19 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $109.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.93. The firm has a market cap of $25.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.60 and a 52 week high of $140.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its 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). Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued 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 is Friday, March 14th. 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.