Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Shares Sold by Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 212 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other news, VP Andrea M. Carter sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.34, for a total value of $367,422.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,806,770.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Global Payments from $160.00 to $157.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $172.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $182.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.32.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPN traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $101.86. The stock had a trading volume of 58,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,286,656. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.60 and a 1-year high of $141.77.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.84%.

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.